"For some, the 1st of March is just the first day of “Women’s Herstory Month.” For black women, the 1st of March marks the day we’re expected to shed our brown skin and “choose gender.” The 1st of March marks the date we’re supposed to smile as blackness disappears from bulletin boards, as librarians move the texts by James Baldwin and Maya Angelou to the back, as we recover from being told “choose race” for 28 days only to be told “choose gender” for 31."