On May 10, Twitter was blazing from a “tweet war” that started between hip-hop artist, Azealia Banks, and 14-year-old actress, Skai Jackson. The war between Banks and Jackson that ended up causing Banks' Twitter account to be removed, ensued when Banks called out former One Direction member, Zayn Malik, for stealing concepts from her music videos and using them in his own. I personally cannot blame Banks for being upset by this as some parts of Malik’s music videos looked exactly the same as hers, and Banks has sacrificed her entire career by speaking out (in sometimes inappropriate ways) against appropriation.
I can completely see how Banks could be upset when a member of a more dominant group gets praise and brownie points for things that she received no credit for doing. So when Skai Jackson inserted herself into the situation, I felt that she was completely out of line.
Regardless of whether Banks went about her outrage in the right or wrong way, she had the right to be outraged. News outlets from the Huffington Post all the way to CNN were chiming in on their opinions of the so-called “drag session” that went on after Jackson’s tweets that suggested Banks “get a career” and accused her of being “bitter and miserable”.
People all over social media were taking screenshots and posting memes feeding into the “tweet war” and some were even saying that Jackson’s tweets exhibited #BlackGirlMagic. The problem I had with this is not with what was said or who it was directed to alone (which is another topic), but that the internet was literally pitting two people of color against each other and calling it magic like it was some sort of good thing.
#BlackGirlMagic is about love, unity and the growth of Black women of all ages and opinions. A little Black girl “dragging” a Black woman who has been driving herself crazy to defend Black Women is not what #BlackGirlMagic is all about.
Yes, Azealia Banks can come off as rude sometimes, yes, she claims to be supporting Trump and yes, some of her opinions may be a little off the wall but she is still a Black woman. It is so important that we don’t deny our women of the very voice we claim to be fighting to give them.
In my opinion, by the behavior she has exhibited, Banks seems to feel hurt by the Black community and the fact that we never support her even when she is trying to support us. We fail her every single time, even when it comes to supporting artists that we don’t even like, like Iggy Azealia for example. I definitely understand why she seems so hurt and comes off as angry all the time. I would be hurt and angry too.
The part that is most bothersome, though, is that we throw her to the wolves just for sharing her opinions. We laugh and give Kanye West props when he curses people out and assaults paparazzi for doing their jobs. We forgave Chris Brown when he domestically abused our Queen Robyn Rihanna Fenty and when he accused Kehlani of faking a suicide attempt for attention. But when it comes to a Black woman, we turn a blind eye.
I am ashamed that we are promoting this as if it is some sort of beautiful thing or story of triumph. If someone is doing something wrong, we try to help them and rise together or at least empathize and see both sides of the spectrum. That’s what #BlackGirlMagic is. All I ask is that we pay closer attention to what we deem to be #BlackGirlMagic and don’t lose sight of the fact that if it isn’t conducive to growth in the Black community, we shouldn’t place our labels that represent “slayage” and fierceness on it.
