But do #WhiteGirlsRock? Why, absolutely indeed, good sir!
Back to being a black man... I was raised in the ultra-white city (population of 25,000 but still calling it a city) of North Platte, Nebraska. Needless to say, I've met my fair share of white girls and have adored a many. Here's to you, Amy, Brittanie, Randi, Abbey, Erica, Meghan, Heather, etc (these are all real women, from North Platte even; I'm not using random "white" names).
I also have my little crushes on many a white woman seen in pop culture, like Olivia Munn (pictured left, who is actually of Chinese, Irish, and German descent), ScarJo (she's so bad I can say "ScarJo" and y'all know who I'm talking about), Zooey Deschanel (black hair version), and on and on. Oh the grand number of examples to prove #WhiteGirlsRock! Outside of popular culture and into business, politics, philanthropy, and every imaginable field, we can think of countless white women who rock and rock ridiculously hard.
And there, good people, is my point. I really should be able to stop here, but...
It is a well understood and established fact that #WhiteGirlsRock. It is undeniable not only in the examples I've pointed out, but in the fact I was so easily able to point them out. I'm no rare case; virtually everybody in America can do the same. Why? Because we can easily see it. Turn or your TV; do a google search, walk outside, read a newspaper or a magazine, and you'll see an abundance of examples. The fact is simply inescapable. And I'm glad about it! White women should be admired and adored and respected for all that they are.
But back to my opening statement: I am a black man. I love being a black man. You can definitely call me "pro-black" because I am a proponent of blackness, my blackness, your blackness, and am profusely proud of it. I was born to a black mother and raised with three black sisters. My aunties, grandmothers, female cousins, etc. are predominately black. And again, I love blackness, so I've seen and have purposely found more examples of black women who rock and rock ridiculously hard.
Again, I purposefully found more examples. I found Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, Angela Davis, Madam C.J. Walker, Cathy Hughes, Dorothy I. Height, Zora Neale Hurston, and so many more. At the time of this reading, how many of you, black or white, male or female, knew all of these names? How many of our own black girls don't know who these excellent role models are, let alone other members of our grand American society?
Do #WhiteGirlsRock? Absolutely. But having a program to commemorate that fact is as necessary as a sand salesman on the beach, as necessary an algebra tutor at MIT, as necessary as life insurance agents to immortals. Really, #WhiteGirlsRock is the Oscars. #WhiteGirlsRock is the Emmys. #WhiteGirlsRock is Sarah Palin being elected to be governor of a state in these United States and us not even think twice about it.
But how many people know as well as I do that #BlackGirlsRock? How many black girls fail to realize this about themselves? I'm all in for empowering these young black women so that they can know that they mustn't settle for men who use them sexually. I'm down with empowering these young black women so that they can know that they can excel academically, socially, financially, emotionally, and spiritually. I'm all about seeing my female students being empowered so they never chase a boy ever again, but demand respect from any boy smart enough to chase her. Because while these things are problems in every racial community, it is notably worse amongst black girls. Not only has mainstream culture failed to represent them in their movies, TV shows, books, academia, news, etc, but their own communities fail to affirm them, choosing instead to bump Lil Wayne, Juicy J, and all manner of misogyny.
#BlackGirlsRock is defiance against a culture that fails to affirm them; it's what too many black girls need to hear, too many Americans need to hear, that we just don't hear often enough. #WhiteGirlsRock is reactionary defiance against that defiance, trying to shame the people trying to give black girls the affirmation white girls so deservingly have already (though in our patriarchal society, I'd be the last to argue can't do better).
I celebrate the fact that #WhiteGirlsRock and so do you. You should, anyway. Now I ask that all join me in celebrating and spreading the news too many people missed: as it regards the women I love so dearly, like my wife, my mother, my sisters, my inner-city female students, my reflection in these women around the world, indeed, #BlackGirlsRock!
