To CaShawn Thompson, the negative tweets, stories and articles about black women and girls kept coming.
The nasty comments about Serena Williams’ body as she dominated Maria Sharapova in the Summer Olympics and won the singles gold medal. Articles based on census data declaring a “marriage crisis” among black women. The controversial, and later retracted, Psychology Today article from a London School of Economics researcher who concluded that black women were the least attractive of all races.
Thompson was about to turn 40, grown enough to give advice to her own teen-aged daughter about not letting the world define her as a young black woman. Yet, there was a tender spot inside her that was wounded by the barrage.
When Thompson read fairy tales and legends as a child, she always imagined the princesses and heroines looked like her. And they always won. So Thompson picked up her phone and tweeted out that regardless of what the mainstream world was saying “#BlackGirlsAreMagic.” That hashtag took off and became #BlackGirlMagic.
If the rest of the world would not celebrate the achievements of black women, then the hashtag would stand as a marker. It became a rallying cry uttered by powerful black women from Michelle Obama to Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
But power can be a relative thing. When Thompson, who lives in Washington, D.C., thought of the power of black women, her mother, grandmother, aunts and teachers came to mind.
“They took care of everybody, they cooked the food, watched the kids. My aunt, she would come home from the disco and teach us dances. I saw it all as magic,” Thompson said.
It has been five years since that first tweet. And while the words have found their way onto T-shirts, into speeches and videos, and been the source of inspiration, they have also met with pushback from both black and non-black women. To the non-black women who’ve said they feel excluded, if not affronted, Thompson is clear: “I’m not their mule. If they feel left out, then they can do it. I advocate for black women and girls.”
More bothersome to Thompson are the posts she gets from black women who say they don’t feel their lives are extraordinary enough to measure up to the phrase now used by some of the most influential black women in the nation. To them she says this: “I had my children early. I work in childcare part time and I’m going to community college in the evening. I’m a hood girl and hood girls like me are where creativity is born a lot of times. So when Ava DuVernay or Janelle Monae or Michelle Obama use it, you can feel left out if it’s not up to their standard, but this is a movement for all black women. Disabled, trans, old, young, the CVS employee of the Month. We don’t all have to have the same political identity, but we all have to be working toward something good.”
A lesson she learned growing up in a majority-black city, neighborhood and schools laces those three words together.
“I’ve always been affirmed. I was told I was smart, pretty and capable my whole life,” Thompson said. “I know a lot of black women did not hear that, so Black Girl Magic is an embrace.”
Here are 10 powerful, accomplished Atlanta women for whom the hashtag fits.
— Rosalind Bentley
ABOUT THE STORY
AJC photographer Alyssa Pointer was inspired to produce this portrait series when Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected mayor of Atlanta last year. “That day I was reminded of the impact that black women have in metro Atlanta,” she said. Pointer culled through social media and consulted with others to come up with these 10 exceptional women. “As an African-American identifying woman, I felt inspired every time I finished photographing each portrait,” Pointer said. “All these women are resilient, dedicated to their purpose in life and charming to be around. They are all exceptional in their own unique way and their accomplishments, whether big or small, should be celebrated.”
Suzanne Van Atten
Personal Journeys editor
personaljourneys@ajc.com
ABOUT THE REPORTER
Rosalind Bentley is an award-winning reporter who has worked at the AJC for 13 years but began her career on the frozen tundra at the Minneapolis StarTribune. Her coverage has ranged from allegations of police brutality to the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, to arts and culture. Though proficient in stories of 140 characters — @rozrbentley on Twitter — she’s a practitioner of long-form narratives and her work has recently been anthologized in the book “Best American Newspaper Narratives.” She was also a Pulitzer Prize finalist for race coverage during her time on the tundra.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Alyssa Pointer is a staff photojournalist for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She graduated from Western Kentucky University and has worked as a visual storyteller in Wisconsin, Illinois and Kentucky. No matter her surroundings, she strives to create impactful images of the people and places within a community. She loves challenging her visual perspective with daily assignments and finds the most joy in working on long-term projects.
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