Is this #blackgirlmagic? How Kamala Harris’ Presidency Announcement Unnerves Some People of Color
Sen. Kamala Harris announced her run for presidency on MLK Day 2020. I was overcome with joy to witness her bold declaration. Her fearlessness affirmed my capability as a black woman. I imagined myself celebrating her run with black folk I knew while dissecting, constructively, the likelihood of her winning the democratic primary.
Half jokingly, I posed a challenge to wrangle up other budding #Kamala2020 supporters via Instagram to begin campaigning. Within minutes I was inundated with phones calls, direct messages, and texts about why she was vehemently unfit to be president and why I should not support her-from people of color. The outpouring of anger suggested that she was wrong for having the audacity to take a chance on herself and redemption by simply running.
Puzzled, I paused. My joy fading. Sadness descending.
I digested brutally explosive discourse for days, by black women, who illustrated her incompetence on various social media platforms. The disdain, mostly, nestled in commentary about her political background. I struggled to recall a time in my years, here, that a politician of African descent was subject to such exhaustive scrutiny, pre-term. After while, these expressions revealed cerebral feelings from my peers that left me wondering:
Is #blackgirlmagic only extended to women of color we like?
We fail to genuinely celebrate black women for pursuing positions that are historically white and patriarchal. It is the same when power, money, or leadership are involved. In my opinion, it requires a dance that is challenging to do or understand. Black women certainly risk ostracization when abandoning traditional expressions of black womanhood. Given our arrival and history in the United States, I can understand. But it would be in the evolution of our own #blackgirlmagic to dismantle, completely.
For plausibly overdue reason, #Blackgirlmagic is trending. Hashtag culture has given birth to: #hireblackwomen, #believeblackwomen, and more. Black girl empowerment events, brunches, mixers, and networking affairs flood Facebook events. Black women are penetrating economic spaces rapidly, as the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs. We are leaders in fields today unimaginable. Our hair, style, and body are mainstream. more Popular. more visible than ever before and we too are flawed. Kamala is flawed. It is within the realm of humanness to freely be both.
I believe Kamala’s presidential announcement exposes the subconscious self-hate, colorism, and sexism we perpetuate as black folk. Our definitions of #blackgirlmagic are not as vast or magical as we claim. We still prefer to celebrate the aesthetic of black women, while sprinkling in mentions of intellect or professional victories. Women who manage these while also being domesticated, wives, and mamas. Bonus points if you remain approachable and docile.
Kamala has not given birth. She is not a former president’s wife, a white man, a black man. She is not married to a black man or using it to validate her blackness. She does not adorn form-fitting designer dresses & sequined thigh high boots. Her skin is light, her hair is fine and there are messages that we have been indoctrinated under about these conditions. But the unwillingness or inability, to challenge what we have been taught to believe about black women who deviate, does not minimize the effects of divisiveness that black women can and do forge in social and professional settings.
Off the heels of the #muterkelly scandal, people of color came together in support of brown women and girls as victims. Power harnessed, R.Kelly’s music, tour dates, and appearances halted. I felt comraderrie as we advocated for maternal rights after hearing about the traumatic birth experiences of Serena, Beyoncé, and Cardi B. Michele Obama is regarded time after time as being a fashion icon with the body to match. Oprah, as the wise and warm auntie that happens to be a billionaire. For some, this is enough. They are satisfied. We have appointed our “#blackwomangoals” as ambassadors.
I am not. You can not mention #blackgirlmagic without giving black women the freedom to pursue whatever dreams bring them purpose and meaning, fearlessly. It is what makes #blackgirlmagic, magic. If you have spent time with black women you know that our power, resilience, and ingenuity know NO bounds. Does Kamala’s choice to run for president challenge our own undetected glass ceilings? I think so.
We behave as if black women and girls are still supposed to be posied and pretty. Pursuing the opportunities that we personally deem powerful, worthy of black women, or that we’re willing to pursue ourselves.
As I processed the admonitions from anti-Kamala supporters, the contradictions became overwhelming. Urges to not vote for her “just because she’s black” after proud proclamations of loyalty to Barack for 8 years. The audacity of people of color to rally behind white presidential candidates as if their pasts are not as questionable, while trusting black women to care for more personal components of their day-to-day life. The assumption that no one is doing gruesome political research, challenged about their decision, or unaware of Kamala’s participation in questionable policy as a prosecutor. Lastly, the utter absence of dialogue when Cory Booker announced his run or any related candidate; my phone didn’t ring, no messages, no texts. No think pieces urging black folks to “be careful” or defenses of a withheld vote.
The nature of politics is controversial. Every able voter has a responsibility to educate themselves and participate.
No one will ever be good enough or be able to do enough for black folks. Not our black and brown elected official, not us for each other. In this life. Our reparations are insurmountable, our pain too prodigious. Yet, we find the capacity to choose a candidate when election time comes. Apprehensively extending mustard seed hope to other politicians with questionable terms.
Kamala’s announcement doesn’t deserve acknowledgement. We can’t separate her humanity from her political affiliation. Evolution is improbable, she is cancelled.
Whether you hate her, vote for her, or she loses the 2020 presidential election, her courage to run for the highest political office in the United States of America is a symbol of representation I applaud as a black woman. I am hurt about pieces of her past. I am hopeful about her future and all of these truths exist, peacefully, at the same time.
