White activist defends “#BlackGirlsRock in response to #WhiteGirlsRock hastag
On Sunday, BET aired the 8th annual “Black Girls Rock” awards show. Millions of viewers tuned in to watch several African American women be celebrated for their overall achievements in entertainment, activism and media.
While the #blackgirlsrock hashtag was ablaze on Twitter, a very unsurprising backlash about the event was also in the midst.
But one white activist is defending Black Girls Rock, and points out some very good examples of why it’s necessary. Here’s an excerpt from Olivia Cole’s article, “Why I’m Not Here for #WhiteGirlsRock.”
We need Black Girls Rock! because black girls and women are almost invisible in American media. Because if you were a black girl growing up in this country, watching TV and movies and reading magazines like every other kid, looking for some representation of yourself as something beautiful or heroic, you would be sorely disappointed.
- Black Girls Rock! is necessary because when you Google “beautiful women,” this is what you see.
- Because when you look at the covers of Vogue, this is what you see.
The #WhiteGirlsRock hashtag soon appeared on Twitter in response to the event with one person tweeting “It’s funny that if this hashtag was #WhiteGirlsRock instead of #BlackGirlsRock it would be considered RACIST.”
Another wrote: “How the f*** is there a #BlackGirlsRock show? If there was a #WhiteGirlsRock, black people would f***ng riot.”
In her article Cole stressed the importance of it not always being about “us” (white people). “This is not to say that white girls don’t rock. I’m white. I kind of rock. But this conversation isn’t about you, it isn’t about us. Why must everything always be about us? It doesn’t have to be. And it shouldn’t be. From one white person to another… please sit down. Queen Latifah is on and you’re blocking the screen.” she writes.
Shoutout to Olivia Cole for standing up for what is right instead of what is white.
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