Throwback to when I had a read for this lil’ girl playing Black and making a bag of it. This was originally published on Ebony. “I’m struck by the fact that there’s no demand for social services to intervene and take custody of this child whose parents have allowed and enabled her to behave so atrociously. There’s no lambasting of her parents for signing contracts for her because a 13 year old can’t sign a contract for appearance fees and selling merchandise. There’s no inquiry into why her parents let her behavior become so outrageous before seeking an intervention. There’s no question as to their fitness to parent or their willingness to exploit their own child for financial gain. They’re white. And White parents always want what’s best for their children even when their actions tell us the contrary. But perhaps what’s most infuriating is that 13 year old Black girls who have to be tough, who really did procure their language “from the streets,” who steal and fight to literally survive when they are left to fend off poverty and unwanted sexual advances, are handcuffed and fingerprinted for their “troubling behavior.” They don’t get to make money off their authentic struggle. They aren’t redeemed by think pieces spinning their story in their favor. Their social media doesn’t blow up. They aren’t selling t-shirts and blankets. Nah, they are demeaned and degraded and kicked out of school.” Take a read and don’t forget to click them damn ads because I’m actually Black, and can’t just go around performing Blackness to get booked and paid.
kinfolkkollective.com Ain’t Nothing Cute About ’Cash Me Ousside’ – KINFOLK KOLLECTIVE