These days all over the ‘net we’re hearing the phrase, “Black Girl Magic” and as a Black woman I’ve thought a lot about what that means. Especially as a Black woman who is a mother to two black girls. I’ve asked myself what does it mean to possess magic? Are we all born with it? Is it something we earn along the way? How do we use it?
For me, one of the ways I think my magic shines through is style. Style is an art form. It gives us an avenue to express who we are. In high school I owned a pair of patent leather, gold, tennis shoes. A peer commented to me that she, a white girl, could never wear anything like them because she wasn’t cool enough. But me, a black girl, was. At the time it offended me because partnered with the other micro-aggressions I heard on a daily basis, it sounded horrible. Yet thinking about it now – perhaps she was right. Perhaps it was my innate Black girl cool, or magic that gave me the hutzpah to rock shoes like Michael Johnson’s Olympic winning spikes.
Black girl magic makes some people feel uncomfortable. It may seem to some like a series of words that makes it okay to dismiss our emotions, thrust us into the roles of super heroes incapable of pain, or gives space for us to be ridiculed. For me Black Girl Magic verbalizes what we harness inside. What enables us able to stand up in the face of a world that isn’t always kind to us. Or wear shoes and clothes that others may not. To dress with flare and walk with grace and poise.
Black girl magic is what I want my daughters to know they have. I want them to be proud of the skin they’re in and to be honored to be Black and beautiful. I want them to know that their magic doesn’t have to be squashed to make others feel bigger. And I want them to use it to express themselves with their style so they always feel fierce. This week Solange’s “A Seat At The Table” has been on repeat for me, her melodic ode to Blackness is a reminder that Black Girl Magic is here to stay.
Be Magical in all you do!
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