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[Lyrics from the song BlackGirlMagic by Mayyadda] Little girl five years old She’s already been told That what she’s got ain’t good enough A princess always wears a crown Over long hair flowing down Never over braids or Afro puffs Well I was that little girl Learning hatred for my curls And I tried to burn ‘em straight Til a new reality Broke through and settled over me That God Herself in love had made As a person who loves exploring the artworld whenever I have a bit of free time, I enjoy browsing through different platforms where I can discover things that other people have created. Whether it be scrolling through Pinterest to gain new Ideas for my own art journeys, or stumbling upon something somewhere that catches my attention. One of the ways I love to explore is by listening to various musical artists on YouTube which is where I have found the majority of the songs living within my playlists, most of which are rather unknown or at least not the type of music that "the hype" is centered around. BlackGirlMagic by Mayyadda was one of those the songs I found. I personally connected with this song and I feel like others have and will too, one of the things that struck my attention was how within the first verse she sings about how those of us with natural hair have grown up in a society where our texture has been looked down upon in the past and sometimes even in the present and how from a young age even those we looked up to even if they were great people, such as Disney princesses (although they are mostly animated), there were still certain aspects missing when it came to representing those with diverse features. Mayyadda clearly displays the issue with this speaking more specifically about how many of us, growing up went through a phase of hating hair due to the medias portrayal of the ideal hair texture and being lead to believe that our hair wasn't "beautiful", however when she sings, "til a new reality broke through and settled over me..." she's explaining how eventually we came to the understanding and realization that our hair is beautiful and we were given this texture for a reason so why not start representing ourselves, which to me is one the messages the Natural Hair Movement makes a great effort to convey. “BlackGirlMagic.” Performance by Mayyadda, YouTube, 10 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfeSRPUB688. “Mayyadda – BlackGirlMagic.” Genius, 10 Feb. 2017, genius.com/Mayyadda-blackgirlmagic-lyrics. Some of may have heard of, or watched Kenya Barris' show named Black-ish and all its spinoffs.. T.V shows and movies are a form of art in multiple ways as they can be used to display different variations of the subject through different mediums whether it be through the soundtracks or the visual effects in addition to the performances by the actors and actresses as well as being an art form themselves as they are the products of filmography and photography. Black-ish and its spinoffs (notably Grown-ish, and more recently Mixed-ish), as forms of art are one of the few shows that make great effort to make sure they have a positive representation of those with naturally coily hair, as the show's Tracee Ellis Ross and Yara Shahidi continuously sport natural and protective hairstyles in support of the movement. Not only do the stylists portray this within in the show but the actresses make a great effort in their everyday lives as well.
Link: Hair by Elizabeth Acevedo...
Hair is one of the first poems I stumbled upon sometime around last year relating to the Natural Hair Movement and from there it lead me to explore even further about the ways the arts are used to advocate for the entire movement. This poem is clearly empowering especially with the finishing line stating that even though society is attempting to persuade you to fix your hair in order for it to fit better into the social standards (that can often be discriminatory), it's not possible because our hair was never broken in the first place. |
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