Just out here Queensetting

     

Okay.  Waking up a woman in a man's world just makes you sigh...and if you are a black woman? Well, you just want to turn back over many days and hope you can just hit reset and try again the next day. It seems our black girl magical powers just get lost out here in the day-to-day living--often what we experience is so damn far from being magical. No one, not even our black male counter parts, understand the "intensity of intersectionality." We black women share the daunting task of being the walking and talking collision of racism and sexism. The fight to exist in our true essence has been ETERNAL and sometimes, just ridiculous.  I mean what other groups has to go to the Supreme Court just to wear the hair God gave us to the work place? It's dumb ish like that. Our beautiful hips, booties, and lips are coveted by many, but hated on us. You can't be too loud, too aggressive, too independent, too weak, too...freaking much! Our voices are suppressed, we're adulterized as young girls way before we can walk good, objectified and sexualized, and our beauty penalized. We go missing, we get killed, and we get cancelled with no one to lift our stories, fight our battles, or just to listen...BUT...the story of the black women goes beyond the struggle. I reject the narrative I described as the only one. We gotta lift our heads off the pillow, blink and wave the wand (even if it's raggedy--tape it up😃), and make the magic happen! I decided last year that I cannot do the "ism" and "ized" existence.  I wanted to embrace the queen in me and fight like hell for every black woman to see their inner queen.  I was struck by two articles when doing some research:  Black Women's Buying Power  and Black Women are the most Powerful Trendsetters. These articles didn't just say the magic exists--there is now the data to prove black women are influencers!  Now, more than ever, we need to activate our power as a trendsetters in the mainstream.
           So, my concept of a Queensetter was birthed last year! I wanted a revolution for black females (as a side note, most movements leave out the black woman, but I digress...). Nikki Giovanni and Angela Davis sat down with the ladies of GirlTrek back in May, and it was such a moment for me and other black women. My soror Nikki hit me in the head when she made the statement, "Know your audience. Stop looking for people who hate you to tell you you're pretty." Her statement was in response to the question regarding the significance of having The Miss Teen USA, Miss America, Miss World, and Miss Universe all be black. While were and still proud of the four women representing black women and breaking through barriers that have not allowed the world to love our beauty, we really didn't need pageants run by white industries to put a stamp of approval on black beauty.  We need to shout it out for ourselves! We don't have to break our backs to align with the new trends--we CREATE trends in music, fashion, beauty, entrepreneurship, politics--you name it. If we are going to be queens, then we need to get about our queen business and start queensetting out here in these streets. No more hiding, seeking validation, and accepting rejection and invisibility--we are divine beings on a collective mission to take over! My line is for all black women (really all women) to be empowered to BE THE TREND in all arenas of life!

           Thank you to my queensetting friends Rochelle, Alia, Lalisha (not pictured) and many more who are showing exactly what my quest entails--supporting each other to keep the crowns straight, the wand active, and lighting the way--they pushed my idea when it was just that. If you're ready to join the movement and be cute (gotta keep it cute), order your Queensetter gear here at: https://teespring.com/stores/soulsayer-inspiration and/or keep supporting the blog--I share my space with all my queens!