Voilà! #BlackGirlMagic Explained (with the Help of Some Magical Memes)
Maybe you’ve seen the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic floating around in your social media newsfeeds. Or maybe you’ve seen the hashtag printed in bold on magazine covers. It's a call to celebrate what has been historically denied to black girls: our beauty, intellect, achievements, and overall awesomeness. It’s celebrating who we are and what we’ve accomplished, despite the adversity we face.
Michelle Obama took the stage at the Black Girls Rock Awards in April of last year to speak to young black women everywhere about the discrimination and unfair social expectations directed at black girls – that, in turn, get internalized by black girls – and related them to her own experiences growing up.
And as demonstrated by the trending #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, there isn’t much representation (let alone positive representation) or celebration of black women in Hollywood.
In 2013, CaShawn Thompson decided to launch the #BlackGirlsAreMagic hashtag (which morphed into #BlackGirlMagic) to encourage black women and girls to celebrate ourselves and our achievements. “I say ‘magic’ because it’s something that people don’t always understand,” Thompson told The LA Times.“Sometimes our accomplishments might seem to come out of thin air, because a lot of times, the only people supporting us are other black women.”
The hashtag has been gradually gaining popularity, and now it’s creeped into the mainstream with media outlets, celebrities, and non-celebrities alike using the phrase to caption images of dope black women, causing a surge of positive, beautiful images of black women to flood newsfeeds and websites everywhere.
Like this one, celebrating Misty Copeland for becoming the first black woman principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre:
The Barbie doll modeled after Ava Duvernay that sold out in minutes:
The gift of “Feelin’ Myself” that Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj bestowed upon us:
Yes, all women are worthy of celebration, but #BlackGirlMagic is a chance for black women and girls to revel in our excellence.
WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations
