Almost five years ago, I found out that I was pregnant with my daughter. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. My husband and I were elated and could not contain our happiness. We had lost our first two babies due to miscarriage, so when we found out about our daughter, we knew she would be a blessing. I remember we told any and everyone about the arrival of our princess.
I told one woman who lived in the same complex in Atlanta, Georgia about the arrival of our princess and she said something that sticks with me to this day. She asked if I was worried about my daughter, coming out “too black.”
While I am what many would categorize as having a brown or caramel complexion, my husband is a beautiful strong man with a chocolate complexion. So this ignorant imbecile was really asking me if I am afraid that my daughter will be the same chocolate complexion as her father. As politely as I could being over seven months pregnant, I told her that whether my daughter is as bright as the sun or as dark as night, she will be beautiful. As I turned to walk away, I continued speaking and said, thank God she will have a mother who lets her know and see her own beauty—she will have her confidence built up so no dummy can come along and make her feel less than because of blackness. The ignorance and self-hatred about the beauty and appreciation of a black girl is widespread.
Around the same time as this conversation, another person with a platform wrote an article to try and scientifically prove that black women are genetically ugly and uglier than other races of women. Literally, this happened in 2011, just a few years ago. The article was published by Psychology Today. In the article, “Why Are Black Women Less Physically Attractive Than Other Women?” Satoshi Kanazawa's writes, "Because they have existed much longer in human evolutionary history, Africans have more mutations in their genomes than other races," Kanazawa's continues "And the mutation loads significantly decrease physical attractiveness."
It is amazing in today’s world, where more than half of the country feels there is no such thing as racism anymore, these racist things keep happening.
For the past 10 years, a woman by the name of Beverly Bond has brought together some great woman and given them rewards, all under the mantra that "Black Girls Rock."
Every year for a decade, the award show is met with a vigorous resistance. #Whitegirlsrock is a hash-tag that is often seen trending on Twitter during the annual celebration. Many question, why the separation and why is Black Girls Rock even needed? Why? Why? Why?
Black girls live in a world where we are told that our features are beautiful, worth thousands of dollars and can be achieved by any housewife with enough money. Yet, our blackness, our color, is ugly—or not good enough—or too dark to be considered “pretty.” This same world where they are employing strippers by the dozens every day, the big butt twerk happy strippers, are the most common image of a black girl that you see in the media. Either they are music video vixens or reality TV stars. In any case, even with the sprinkling of a black woman on primetime TV here and there, we are still under-represented in a positive light in the media.
This is why we need things like "Black Girls Rock" and the lovely hashtag of #BlackGirlMagic. The meaning behind it all is to affirm, motivate and uplift ourselves. Just a few months ago, one of Elle magazine’s columnist felt heat behind an article that stated black girls are not magic, but human.
Truth is yes, we are all human, and yes #whitegirlsrock, #allgirlsrock, but right now we are screaming from the tops of our lungs that we are here, we matter, we are life changers and yes, we rock. We are not all strippers, twerkers, gold-diggers, angry, bitter, etc. Instead we are strong, powerful and beautiful. If the media will not show it, then we will get together ourselves and showcase the excellence that exists within our community.
The founder of "Black Girls Rock," Beverly Bond, summed it up simply by stating, “It is not comparing you to me, it is affirming me to me. Why do I have to get permission from you to affirm me?”
Black Girls Rock is needed for the next generation to let them know there is more out there then what VH1 shows of us. We are educated, groundbreaking and changing the game in so many walks of life. For all the girls who do not see that daily, this is a way for them to see it and know what they are capable of. For me, it is a tool that I use to reaffirm what I already am teaching my daughter. That she can do and be anything in this world that she wants to be.
Today, as I write this, my baby girl is in her room singing along on her karaoke machine to "The Wiz." My daughter’s favorite thing on TV for months happens to be "The Wiz." The first time she saw it, she exclaimed, “Mommy, Mommy, her hair is just like mine and she can sing just like me!” Every little boy and girl should be able to see themselves in a positive light in the media. Thank you to Beverly Bond and Black Girls Rock for making that happen for a decade now!
