The first time I heard the phrase “Black Girl Magic” was during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio when Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas were showing the world just how amazing they are. I have always been obsessed with the summer Olympics despite having little interest in sports otherwise, and like millions of others, I was watching. It was so special to me to see these strong Black girls being so celebrated.
But Black Girl Magic had existed before that moment. Popularized by CaShawn Thompson in 2013, it’s a concept that celebrates Black girls and women persevering and stands against the negative stereotypes, misogynoir, and racism that we deal with on a regular basis.
The Best Fantasy Novels to Read After Shadow and Bone vulture.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vulture.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Why I m reading contemporary Black American novelists Alison Slow Loris
I don t know how it feels to be Black in this country.
Black-led protests, Black writers editorials, Black friends Facebook postings show me not only the constant fear that affects every Black person s interaction with white authority and white strangers, but also the daily emotional toll of uncounted microaggressions, all the tiny pinpricks of racism (often unconscious) that give Black and other people of color the message that they re considered suspicious, abnormal or subnormal, not “really” American, because of their race. Being considered “exotic” can t feel much better. Even compliments often carry a sting. Praising a Black person for being articulate or a good parent, for example, implies that the opposite is more typical of their race.