What Did She Say?

I am writing this post at 12:47 pm on a Friday night because I just saw the commercial for the campaign P&G: My Black is Beautiful. As I was getting ready for bed the commercial literally stopped me in my tracks. I was putting things in their rightful place and I heard, “who said that?” then a little cute voice said, “the lady at the store”. I looked up and saw a beautiful black girl sitting while, what looked to be her mother, was doing her hair. This really got my attention and everything I was doing came to a halt. I stopped to see what direction the commercial was going in.

The words, “that is not a compliment,” faded into the next scene of the commercial. A mother sitting on a porch swing with her young son of about 8 years old came on the screen. She said, “It’s an ugly, nasty word and you’re going to hear it. There’s nothing I can do about that but you are not going to let that word hurt you”. This is so important because this is instilling values, restraint and generally a tough skin in the child. He will know what his value is no mattered what anyone says to him. We as a black community need to make a great effort in instilling this into our loved ones. 

“I’ll Be Okay, Right?”

I then saw a black mother talking to her son about making sure he had his ID when he was driving and said: “just in case they stop you”. Black men, women, and children have to worry whether they have the right things, say the right things and do the right things when encountering police. As you can imagine this can be a very exhausting task.  

This faded into a mother and daughter talking and the mother began to explain to her daughter what to do when she gets pulled over. It seemed that the daughter was dismissive of what her mother was saying because she told her not to worry. Her mother was telling her to be careful, not for a ticket but because it was a possibility that she may not come back home after an encounter with the police.

The daughter tried to reassure her mother that she didn’t have to worry and then she proceeded to say “right?”, as if she was looking for reassurance from her mother. This is one part of the commercial that really got to me and made me sad. The fact that young black girls, and black people in general, have to worry about not coming back home to see their loving mothers because the police could possibly kill them for no fault of their own, is very disheartening. And the fact that it would simply be because they were black is ridiculous. 

“You Are Beautiful Period.”

The last scene of the commercial goes back to the little girl getting her hair done. Her mother says, “you are not pretty for a black girl, you are beautiful period. Okay? Don’t ever forget that”. This was another powerful part of the video and it literally had me on the verge of tears. The fact that this was even being brought to light and talked about had me emotional. The words her mother said were very powerful and I feel every black girl needs to be told this.  If we are told something long enough we begin to internalize it and believe it to be fact. 

A little history:

In the past and some will argue even today black was/is seen as a derogatory term. When race became a prominent way to identify and divide people the terms white and black were used to describe these different groups. Many people may think that these terms were used to describe people’s skin color but originally that was not the case. White was used to be seen as pure and good and black as bad, dirty or evil. People of the European descent believed they were the superior race so, they called themselves white, which inferred they were good and better. As we know Europeans enslaved Africans because they thought Africans were inferior and of lesser value. So, they subsequently called people of darker skin black.

The phrase “My Black is Beautiful” was coined as an empowering phrase in the 1960’s. There were many representations of this campaign in the black community and in black media at the time. Things such as appreciating black hairstyles such as afros, dreadlocks, and cornrows were used. The movement was used to counteract the prevalent idea that blacks were unattractive and less desirable than “Whites”. Over the years the movement had died down and wasn’t use as frequently. I am so glad to see that it is being brought back and highlighted along with other relevant issues such as police brutality against people of color.

Importance of Representation

This is so important to be implemented in our community so that Black people can see that we truly are beautiful. Also having other groups of people be exposed to it will be beneficial to the climate of our society. As people living in America, all we tend to see in the media is white models, actresses/actors, writers, directors, and creators in general. I believe that it is about time that we begin to be exposed to black people, among other minority groups, being utilized in these roles! Many creators such as Oprah have their film crews consist of all minorities and a majority are women. This is a great step towards the representation that we need to see. 

When we begin to see reflections of ourselves is when many black people will begin to appreciate who we are. At that point, we will then start to truly believe that we are beautiful because that is what we will be exposed to and in turn begin to unknowingly internalize. 

Conclusion

My reaction: While I was watching this commercial I was completely engrossed in it. It was like everything else around me disappeared. When it was over I came back to reality and had to instantly come to my computer and write about it. I absolutely love this commercial because it has such a powerful message. Throughout the video, I would say, “Yes!” to myself because I agreed with the way the video was done and the message that it was giving. The directors did an amazing job portraying what truly happens in black homes. “The Talk” is the title of this commercial. It is extremely relevant to this day and age and even 60 years ago, which is very somber to say.

The video ended with the words “Let’s all talk about the talk, so we can end the need to have it. It’s time for everyone to #TalkAboutBias”. Let’s talk about it down in the comments below. Tell us what you think about the Black is Beautiful movement. What do you think about this commercial?

Let’s Talk. 

Here is the video of the commercial: