About Why “The Talk” is Necessary and Affirming Black Girlhood
In a world where simply being born with Black and brown skin puts you behind in the starting race of life, it’s important that we equip our children with what they need to handle it. We’ve had a Black president, yet we still have to deal with people calling us derogatory words, or telling us we are ugly simply for having melanin. We still need to work twice as hard to get half as far. And we need to be cognizant of how we walk through the world because it’s a life and death situation. Our survival depends on it.
These are things that we don’t have the privilege to ignore or act like they aren’t facts. This is why when Proctor & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful The Talk video dropped, I was in my feelings. My eyes were sweating before I could even realize it, because there is this visceral recognition of how unfair it is for Black children, and the parents who have to make them grow up faster than they wish.
When white parents have “The Talk” with their kids, it’s the birds and the bees talk they refer to. The one where they weave tales about where kids come from. However, Black parents have to have that talk AND another with our children, for survival. And the affirmation that their Black is valuable. It’s heavy.
Shoutout to MBIB for this, cuz we do need to #TalkAboutBias, and hopefully one day, we can get to the point where this talk isn’t needed.
This is why I’m extremely proud to be an MBIB ambassador. I like to align myself with companies and brands that aren’t afraid to push the envelope for the greater good. But even more important, speaking truth to power shouldn’t be the exception, as much as it should be the rule. Furthermore, to be able to rep a platform that a major company (Proctor & Gamble) has created strictly for the purpose of elevating Black girlhood and womanhood? An honor.
I’ve squadded up with them at BET Live Experience, had a ball at their activations at ESSENCEFest, and got to experience one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to at the Cincinnati Music Festival.
Good times ahead!
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by My Black is Beautiful, but as always all thoughts, randomness and whatnots belong to me. I keep it 100 at all times.
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2 Comments
I LOVED this! I’m always excited when big companies join the fight for justice, esp those that don’t have to put themselves in the middle. My question, as a white woman is–how does this conversation take place? How, aside from the important small conversations with friends, do we make a bigger difference than that? How does this get to the national movement stage?
I’m truly hoping for the day to come when we don’t have to talk about this anymore. Until such a time, this is a wonderful initiative to keep the conversation at the forefront. So glad that you’re an ambassador and know that you will help end the pretense so we can collectively get real about this serious ongoing issue.