Black Girl Magic

And now the color is RED! Went full cosmic on this vibe. I have always preached about the essence of being black comes along with so much more than just the color of our skin. I mean wow, what complex creatures us brown skin sistas are.

Photography by Kwesi Yanful

My fellow sistas we are the energy and epitome of what it means to be magical. When you’re born into a world where the color of your skin has privilege you have to take into consideration that being different is the privilege. Finding the beauty in all people is truly the wonder of the world while self-love is important. I have never in my life wanted to be anything other than black. I grew up with having all black Barbie dolls, books with black characters and so on and so forth. Representation does matter on all levels of life. I went to schools at an early age with all backgrounds and cultures of people and this sent me into the world with a strong sense of self and curiosity to know others that were not like me.

Now in the climate of the world I’m sure so many of us are looking for a sense of self and explanation as to why our differences make us targets for certain treatment. I am proud to be a black woman and the struggles that come along with it only make me more resilient. There will never be an explanation for treatment that black people receive. Generations of our ancestors have had to deal with far more but over time things are still not where they need to be. I see street names being changed, monuments are being removed, declarations are going up on social media post but there has been no justice served for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. These are just two of the many names of so many whose lives have been taken without justice being truly served, of course, my first thought is how can I take action. How can I be involved and make a change? After going back and forth I decided to obviously keep doing what I’ve always done which is support my people but to go harder. I do this my simply choosing to work with creative artist of color and support their businesses as much as possible. We have to promote each other, buy black in as many capacities as possible.

The industry has for years profited off the image and culture of black people. Its’ quite simple, white girl wears braids then it means she making it fashion. If a black girl wears her hair braided she gets sent home from school, told she’s ghetto or simply is stereotyped. Honestly its these types of experiences that have made me love myself or be more outspoken about my heritage. I love that we can wear our hair in so many ways and even with having natural hair you have tons of options on how you can change and manipulate your hair. I grew up always hearing that your hair needs to be combed make sure it looks nice and I don’t know one day I decided let see what happens if I let it be natural. It was the best decision I ever made. Literally every black girl has stories of the horrible hot comb experience or getting perms. To me I thrive off being an individual and living the aura of what makes me unique. Black people have always been told to make sure your hair looks a certain way to suppress our identity. I don’t have anything against wigs at all, but I do see it as another way of suppression of self-acceptance. Wigs and other hair accessories should be fun but not a tool to feel like this is the way your hair should look. It took years for me to find my natural look but I would rather look like myself than the millions of girls with the same wig unit. There are several different reason people have to wear hair units and that’s totally fine, everyone has something they are dealing with or maybe health issues, it’s not for us to judge. It becomes an issue when you feel less than because its’ a societal norm for you to look a certain way to feel more appealing. Your hair is your crown my ladies!!!!!! Be excited to celebrate yourself through the many ways you can style your hair and express yourself. Bantu knots are one of my favorite styles. It’s edgy, punk and gives me an ethnic rebel vibe. This is where the magic is, in the transcendence of your being on so many levels, hair is just the beginning.

What else makes us so complex and magical? I guess it would be the stories I hear on and everyday basis on overcoming obstacles and hurdles because of our difference. I love hearing others experiences and stories because it gives me insight, wisdom, and guidance. The good the bad the ugly the sad. I watched a documentary about Toni Morrison who is an amazing black author and editor who has written many books that tells black stories. This is why I say that representation matters. She grew up feeling like she wanted to read black narratives and stories about black people. Everything being written about black people during that time was from the white persons perspective. Which is still happening to us in a numerous amount of ways. I am aways astounded at the amount of people that gravitate towards black people to steal culture and not truly appreciate it. Putting white models with ethic flare on the runway, worshiping Eurocentric features with a black barbie touch,I’m over it all. This is all so surface level, because we all know who we are is more than how we look. The depth of a person can not measured by how they look. I ultimately want black people to love who they are, especially my black women. Maybe now there is a re emergence of of self love within the black community now surrounding all of the social injustices issues. My hope is that people have been reminded that there is beauty in loving yourself as a black person and being unapologetic about it.