Hey everyone, welcome to my blog! A lot of times in media we see black women portrayed in negative ways whether it be the “bitter, angry black women” or they are objectified and hyper sexualized. This depiction of us is not anything new, in my media and feminism class, we read the article “I used to be your sweet mama” by Angela Davis that shows the many struggles black women faced. So with this blog, I wanted to create posts that show women represented in the right way. I believe the women I mention below helps to create the representation I want to see in the media that will inspire young black woman.  The title For Us By Us is to show our stories, our culture through our lens. One that’s realistic and non problematic.

-The Black Girls Rock is an annual show that BET networks has to promote the empowerment of black woman. This shows gives black women reassurance that we are enough and that we are doing great things to make a difference to overcome the inequality and systematic oppression that we face. They showcase women in entertainment, music, sports and etc.

-In 2016, Rihanna was a winner and she is remembered for the speech she gave especially when she said “Thank you so much for celebrating us in a world that doesn’t celebrate us enough”

-If you’ve ever watched a fashion show, Alexander Wang or Victoria Secret there always seems to be very few black woman models. This is very problematic and some people try to say “oh well theres not that many”, this is far from accurate. Trust me theres more than just Jourdan Dunn, Winnie Harlow, Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks. Models like Leomie Anderson, Jasmine Tookes, Riley Montana, Leila Nda and Imaan Hammam are just a few to mention.

-Not only do these woman barely get casted they also struggle when they are casted for a show. For instance many models have expressed the great deal of racism that they face by makeup artists that do not have their shade or do not know how to do makeup on a black woman. For instance Jourdan Dunn has said in the past ” Designers shouldn’t be applauded for having just one ethnic model”. Leomie Anderson has said “I feel like there’s been a lot of situations where black models have been made to feel like second-class citizens during fashion week or during their jobs because, at the end of the day, we feel like it is because of our skin tone.”

-To fix this problem, Leomie Anderson has created LAAP The Brand where she sells merchandise to promote empowerment of women. She also has a blog on the site where women can tell stories of their own lives where they have faces inequality and oppression.

 

• In this years midterm elections, we saw a great deal of black woman who won the elections. Representation like this shows the power we have and how we can use these positions to protect our rights as well as help pass future laws that protect black women. Some woman that won was:
• Ayanna Pressley- First Black woman ever elected to Congress from Massachusetts  

  Ilhan Omar- First Somali-American to win a seat in Congress

  Juliana Stratton- First Black Lieutenant Governor of Illinois 

  Jahana Hayes- First Black Woman to be elected to Congress from Connecticut 

  Mary Ann Wilder-Vivian- First Black woman elected as mayor of Carthage, Mississippi 

  Rachael Rollins- First Black woman elected as District Attorney of Suffolk County, Boston 

  Letitia James- First Black woman to be elected Attorney General of New York

  Lauren Underwood- First Black woman elected to represent Illinois 14th Congressional District 

  Veronica Smith-Creer- First Black woman elected as mayor of El Dorado, Arkansas 

  Paula Dance- First Black woman elected as Sheriff of Pitt County, North Carolina 

-In this picture Kim Kardashian took for her snapchat, she told her fans that she was wearing Bo Derek braids. Bo Derek is the woman pictured on the right, she was a model and actress in the 70’s seen with these braids. Yes she wore them, but she did not invent them. These braids are called Fulani Braids, that originate from West Africa. Its one thing to appreciate the culture, but this move Kim did was an appropriation of black culture.

-This appropriation must be addressed because individuals like the Kardashians get praised on magazine covers as well as in 2016 when the Marc Jacobs fashion show had their models who were predominately white wear faux locks. This praise is hypocritical because in so many cases young African American woman get suspended and expelled from school for their hair/braids being a violation of dress code. This also goes for woman not getting employment because of their braids. Below are some news articles that show this.

Black students at Massachusetts charter school served detention, suspended from sports teams for wearing hair in braids

A school thought this Black girl’s afro was ‘unacceptable’

WAR ON BLACK HAIR: WEARING BRAIDS GETS BLACK GIRLS BANNED FROM PROM AT MALDEN CHARTER SCHOOL IN MASSACHUSETTS

Black Students Punished For Wearing Box Braids To School

 

 

• Serena Williams- Ranked as one of the greatest tennis players in history. Even with her great accomplishments, she is constantly receiving hate and horrible treatment. For instance at the 2018 French Open, they banned the “catsuit outfit” she had on calling it inappropriate. Another example is when Australian cartoonist Mark Knight drew an illustration of Serena Williams when she lost the U.S. Open  to Naomi Osaka. The cartoon depicted her as the typical angry black women. Despite this Serena still preserves and sets a great example for black women.
• Simone Biles and Gabrielle Douglas are both gymnist that have participated in the Olympics.  Gabrielle Douglas is the first woman of color of any nationality and the first African-American gymnast in Olympic history to become the Individual All-Around Champion. With their accomplishments both women show great representation of black women in sports. They also inspire so many young girls and women all around the world.

-In 2015 Dream Works released the animated film Home staring a black little girl with curly hair as the main character. This inspired many little black girls around the world who saw themselves being represented.

-In 2016, Hidden Figures was released this told the untold story of 3 black woman Katherine Johnson,  Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who contributed in many ways to help NASA.

 

September 8, 2017- Rihanna launched her makeup line titled Fenty Beauty. She decided to focus on making sure everyone of every shade with any undertone was able to find a high quality foundation that would match their natural skintone. Her whole campaign was supported by the idea that women should be able to walk into a make up store and find exactly what they wanted without having to mix colors. It was announced that Fenty Beauty made a total profit of approximately 120 million dollars in only 59 days. After Fenty Beauty, a great deal of makeup companies started to include more shades catered to darker skin women. The real question is did they really do it because they care about inclusion and diversity or because they realized this is a good business move.