#blackgirlmagic
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Grown Women, This Young Queen Is Here to Remind Us We Can Do Whatever We Want
If you’ve ever caught an episode of Spike TV’s Lip Sync Battle, you know it can be addictive. Based on a recurring segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, it premieres its fourth season Jan. 18. There’s something about watching celebrities get silly for the sake of a song that makes for irresistible entertainment.…
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Dressing Coretta: We Honor the Woman Who Helped Mold a Movement as Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Revisits Selma
In the 50th year since his assassination in 1968, much has and will be said about Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights leader and icon whose legacy of nonviolent resistance inspired the world—while compelling some to distort and dilute his message of activism. But Coretta Scott King, the great woman consistently behind and beside…
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#BlackGirlMagic on Ice: Black Girls Rock on Skates, Too
Each day I live, I want to beA day to give the best of me.I’m only one, but not aloneMy finest day is yet unknown … “One Moment in Time” was the official theme song of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics in South Korea, memorably sung by the incredible Whitney Houston. At last week’s 2018…
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Black, Bookish and Beautiful: This All-Black, All-Female Publishing Team Is Ensuring That Authors of Color Get Their Shine
Publishing is notoriously rough terrain for authors of color. Jack Jones Literary Arts—an all-black, all-female firm—is seeking to change that, committing to publishing and promoting books by writers who have traditionally been pushed to the margins of a historically white and male-dominated industry. Founded by Kima Jones in 2015, Jack Jones Literary Arts boasts an…
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It’s a Different Show: Grown-ish Isn’t A Different World—and I’m Cool With That
This week, Grown-ish premiered on Freeform to big fanfare. Everyone is loving it. I’m loving it. My inner queer squealed when Zoey was completely chill with her bisexual friend Nomi. I was thrilled to see bisexual visibility on the show, and hope there will be more queer visibility overall—not just for jokes or sensational provocation,…
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17-Year-Old Maame Biney Becomes 1st Black Girl to Make US Olympics Team for Speedskating
We ’bout to see all the #BlackGirlMagic during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, now that a 17-year-old from Virginia has bust through. On Saturday, Maame Biney became the first African-American woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympics team in speedskating, with two victories in the 500-meter race. “I can’t believe it, aww geez,” said…
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19-Year-Old Harvard Student Becomes America’s 1st Youth Poet Laureate
In April, 19-year-old Amanda Gorman was named America’s first national youth poet laureate. The Los Angeles native is a sophomore at Harvard University studying sociology. According to the New York Times, Gorman’s work is “a cleareyed mix of autobiography, social issues like Islamophobia, and historical motifs picked up from her college’s library.” In addition to…
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All Black Girl Everything: Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys to Face Off in US Open
Saturday’s final in the U.S. Open’s women’s singles matchup will be an athletic display of all black, everything black girl as two beautiful black American women compete in a grand-slam final that is likely to break records for black viewership because it’s our time to shine now, son. (*Cackles in #BlackGirlMagic.*) Sloane Stephens, 24, and…
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Get Your Life Together! Recent Fla. High School Grad Didn’t Miss a Day of School in 13 Years
You may be sad if you compare your slacker life with that of 17-year-old Victoria Jordan. The recent graduate from Paxon School for Advanced Studies in Jacksonville, Fla., was honored along with two other classmates for making it through 13 years of school without missing a single day, reports People magazine. “They were kind of…
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Wherever 2 or 3 Black Girls and Oprah Are Gathered Together, Magic Is in the Midst
Earlier this week, journalists were called to a swanky hotel in New York City to sit with the (majority-black) cast and director (George C. Wolfe) of HBO’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. We weren’t given many details—just where to be and at what time. With Oprah Winfrey leading the star-studded cast, we could only…