It is strange to think and stranger to say that up until college, I had never really had black friends. While that was largely a function of the area(s) that I grew up in, it is a pretty crazy part of my reality before meeting these ladies (and our dear Friend Candra, who was not with us when this photo was taken). These girls define black girl magic and they opened my eyes to a wealth of thoughts and experiences that I had not had before.
Woman Crush Wednesday: Simone Biles
I don't have to tell you who this is - Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is already a hero to girls everywhere, particularly little gymnasts and young black girls. For these reasons and more, she already has my respect. This season on DWTS she has absolutely been slaying on the dance floor, wowing me once more with her incredible talent, and last night, she made me love her even more. Despite a flawless run of incredible dance performances throughout the season, the judges have given her endless grief about what they deem to be insufficient emotion. Last night the host went so far as to ask her why she wasn't smiling. Her response shut down the host and lit up the internet. She's my wcw today for the hard work she puts into everything that we get to see her accomplish and for confidence that little girls should see and aspire to.
Woman Crush Wednesday: Priscilla Samey
I am always in awe of high school students who manage to get into not just several universities, but several ivy league universities as well. Priscilla Samey got accepted into Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Brown, Penn, and Cornell. What a way to close out senior year! Of course, another quintessential part of ending senior year is attending prom (or so I have been told). When gentlemen did not line up in the same fashion as those colleges, she decided to bring her Harvard acceptance letter with her to prom. What a boss? Also, can we appreciate that gorgeous culture-honoring dress that surely stood out in the midst of a catalogue-dress-dancefloor? Moments like these make me glad for an internet culture that shares and remembers. I hope little girls everywhere heard about her, especially little black girls.
Woman Crush Wednesday: Michelle Obama
I mentioned a few days ago that I wanted to be President when I was younger. If you asked me now as an adult "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and if you let me answer with the same childlike naiveté, I would say without hesitation "When I grow up, I want to be The First Lady." I might even say "When I grow up, I want to be Michelle Obama." Since she hit the campaign trail alongside her husband and appeared on my limited radar, she has been the role model I had not realized I was missing.
As a young black girl, even in a time as "progressive" as ours, I did not have a lot of current black female role models (that is to say role models living in my time rather than resting in the past or in the pages of a textbook). I had them in my home and my church, but not on a public stage where my peers and the rest of the world could also admire them. It seemed to me that there were two kinds of current black female role models. There were those who were in a position of power and were admired for success related to their intelligence, like Condoleezza Rice, who inspired a certain type of girl, but not every girl. Then there were those who held the unique popularity that comes with entertainment and were admired for success related to their artistic talent, who seemed to inspire more girls, but did not necessarily offer the type of impact that I hoped to have one day. Where were the crossovers who could inspire every girl with every kind of gift in her arsenal?
*Enter Michelle Obama* Here was a beautiful black woman (arguably the most beautiful woman to occupy the White House) who was as affable as she was accomplished, as "hip" as she was intelligent, and as fun as she was impactful. In addition to unique initiatives that she led as First Lady, she made time to engage our generation, appearing on the television shows that we watched and in the magazines that we read, and sharing in our interests, from social change to music and pop culture. This incredible strong black woman was standing on the most public stage of all and inspiring the heck out of black girls like me and girls everywhere - inspiring the heck out of everyone everywhere. Her husband summed it up beautifully when he addressed her in his farewell address last night:
"You took on a role you didn’t ask for and made it your own with grace and grit and style and good humor. You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody. And a new generation sets its sights higher because it has you as a role model."
Even as she gracefully bows out of her role as First Lady, I have no doubt that Michelle Obama will remain in the spotlight, inspiring everyday people and impacting change in our society.
Woman Crush Wednesday: Ilhan Omar
Yesterday, Ilhan Omar was sworn into the Minnesota House of Representatives. When I look at her standing there with her family in the midst of an otherwise monochromatic crowd, I feel immensely proud. Her accomplishments mean so much for so many people - people of color, young girls, refugees, and Muslims, among others. I look at her beautiful family and consider what her accomplishments mean to them as well, and I must imagine the weight of it all on her shoulders. What grace she bears it with. May she continue to gracefully slay barriers and impact change.