Abstract
In this edited volume, Jordan-Zachery, Harris, and a group of black, female-identified scholars explore varied definitions of #BlackGirlMagic. Primarily informed by Black Feminist Intersectionality theory, the authors assert definitions of the hashtag and illustrate, with various qualitative approaches, the many ways it has transcended popular online culture and become an act of resisting white supremacy and colonial patriarchy. Focusing on this shift from online discourse and media narratives to offline action, the authors offer a critical viewpoint on the racially precarious grounds black women, girls, and femmes must traverse. They highlight how meaning, via cultural and political self-articulation and space-making, is created and sustained in a society froth with public death and a system perpetually trying to undermine their worth.
Considering the intersection of the lived realities and magic of black womanhood, Jordan-Zachery and Harris assert three tenets of black politicocultural behaviors: identity, power, and justice. These are exemplified through four themes encapsulated in all the volume’s chapters: (1) fostering community, (2) countering dehumanizing representations, (3) challenging the politics of the invisibility of the black (female) body, and (4) forging restoration. In chapter one, Harrison connects #BlackGirlMagic to the 1970s-1980s grassroots Black British feminist movement, showing how the concept behind the hashtag is innate to black women’s labor for freedom and justice. This combats narratives diminishing the existence, power, and contribution of black women in history. Chapter two, by Dill and colleagues, discusses the flexible dynamism of identity construction among African American, Caribbean American, and African girls. It showcases how women in the diaspora can hold varying identities nonoppositional to blackness—building community-focused, not on identification differences, but on the shared, lived experiences of diaspora members.
In chapter three, Jacobs offers her theory of Black Girl Critical Literacy (BGCL), which “situate[s] the experiences of Black girls [in white-dominant schools] as a result of their intersecting and oppressed identities . . . and what competences and strategies they employ” to counter oppression and discrimination (p. 85). While Jacob’s theory is preliminary, I am skeptical of her discussion of emotional literacy. It seems to equate politically respectable ways black girls could respond to racial, class, and gendered discrimination with emotional literacy. Responses of anger— “going off”—are not viewed as appropriate/critical responses. Future work must dissect this argument, especially as it relates to the prevailing stereotypes of black women as perpetually angry and explain why Jacob’s discussion of emotional literacy does not reproduce that stigma.
Chapters four and five examine how Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT) functions as a catalyst for exploring the spiritual/magical component of #BlackGirlMagic. In chapter four, Garner draws on others’ work, her own work with SOLHOT, and her grandmother’s teachings to discuss the complexity and breadth of spirituality. She posits that black girlhood is more than physical identification; it is imbued with depth and mystery. Recognizing the spiritual nature of being a black female acknowledges and unearths power, importance, and the endless possibility to reimagine the group’s image and future, contrary to the dictates of white hegemony. Garner combats dehumanization and the politics of invisibility by transforming the discussion—providing spaces that liberate.
Chapter five, by Robinson, builds on this discussion of spirituality. She illustrates how her knowledge gained from her involvement with SOLHOT and the speculative performance of Kasandra Perkins, a victim of domestic violence, serves as a medium of remembrance—materializing the intangible (such as emotions) and constructing a whole image of black women as human, not simply as victims or suspects. This adds to Garner’s discussion of creativity’s importance in imagining a future and forging restoration. As black women, girls, and femmes tap into their spirituality—their connection to the divine—they can reassemble the fragments that constitute their realities.
In chapter six, David challenges discussions of invisibility by analyzing how black women and femmes create their own identities and make spaces for themselves in punk culture, an area often read as not being for them. Chapter seven details a conversation between scholar Jordan-Zachery and her daughter about the meaning of #BlackGirlMagic in her daughter’s identity.
The entire volume highlights how the magic of black girls can be identified, maintained, and transformed through building community, claiming space, countering invisibility, and inspiring restoration. The volume’s overall strength is the methods it employs to showcase the varying lived realities of black women and how they interpret #BlackGirlMagic. It reinforces that, while there is no single dimension of black womanhood, the quest for liberation binds the group. Additionally, by weaving together critical analyses of the lived experiences among a segment of the black diaspora, the authors bridge academia with community. While the questions of if and how #BlackGirlMagic can dismantle Western systems of imperial patriarchy remain, this volume brings us closer to an answer by demonstrating how offline interpretations of the hashtag can be impactful and expand theory.