When will you see Black girls

[Music]

we live in a world

that loves to hear but does not love to

listen

a world that loves to look but does not

love to see

when society champions girls rights in

the uk

it centres the experience of white girls

and when we discuss inequality within

the education system

well that discussion centers black boys

meanwhile we have black girls who live

at the intersection of two marginalized

groups

their identities span in multiple

systems of oppression

yet their voice and presence are not

heard

or seen you see when you do acknowledge

black girls they are known for their

aesthetics

the beauty in their clothes their hair

and well you know their style all of

this

is celebrated and seen as a crowning

jewel when on others

but for black girls the way they look is

discriminated against within the very

systems

that are supposed to serve and protect

them so let me ask you a question

have you ever really tried to understand

black girls

their feelings thoughts dreams

and challenges let alone the ways in

which they can be

supported and uplifted

the stereotypes of the black girls you

think are angry without understanding

their emotions

are just expressing themselves like

everyone else those same black girls

who you say are too loud are just

trying to make sure their voices are

heard those black girls that smile

and don’t say anything well

they’re the ones too anxious to be

themselves

in all of their glory and all the black

girls

who are adultified and viewed as women

well now

they need and want to be treated as

black girls

we have created a world where black

girls wear armor

to protect others in fact

these girls are the armor for others

whilst feeling unprotected

so as a result we have black girls

spending more time

mobilizing than healing from the

experiences they should never

have had to experience

one could argue that this is not even an

active choice

but a method of survival a coping

mechanism

to give a black girl a fighting chance

to be heard

as behind her exterior she’s holding off

a war

but who is protecting her

so i’m going to tell you a bit about

myself because living as a black woman

today

i’ve had to ask myself where is the

black girl

where is my black girl

i had to find my inner black girl

through healing

empowerment and resilience you could say

i needed her

through healing i was able to reclaim my

inner black girl

i needed to recognize that i had wounds

that needed healing

not plasters but healing understanding

that this would not be easy

but it was so necessary for me

and if you know me this was difficult

but healing

started with trust i had to learn to

trust the people

who had broken the trust when i was a

girl

i had to learn to trust you know

authority and all

i had to learn to trust myself and trust

in myself

looked like believing in myself

recognizing that

the things i was too embarrassed to do

when i was a young person

and processing the pain i held in

that now that’s turned to power

healing for me was about being still

and allowing myself to connect with a

process that

man i ran for from for so long

but that wasn’t my fault you see the

things i’d seen

and i’d been through well you know it

only required me to look strong

but this thing called healing wanted me

to be vulnerable and i’m not here

telling you that this was a quick fix

or a one-time thing but rather

it has been and still is a journey of

self-exploration a journey of seeking

and saving my black girl child that

somewhere along the

way got buried alive to survive

now empowering while empowering my inner

black girl was not simply about what

society told me i should

but digging deeper to reclaim all the

power

in all aspects of me take my name for

example

i’m sure you’ve read it and you

struggled a bit right my name is ebonita

dad i know what you’re saying that’s not

the way we pronounce it but we’re in the

and my name means my destiny

see i’m quite literally you could say

i’m a bit about

destiny shout yeah when i look back

on my growing up i struggled to see

destiny and i tell you this

i definitely say saw no child i didn’t

even know ebonita

that who she because from primary school

well you guessed it my name was

shortened to three letters

ebby so that other people were not

inconvenienced

in pronouncing my name and you see

it’s something as simple as this

that is front and center in the erasure

of black girls voices and visibility

you know they quickly learn to not put

others out

and become more accommodating

interjecting in the register before

teachers butchered their names

or holding their tongue boiling inside

when asked is there something short i

can call you

so empowerment here is a brace is about

embracing my vulnerability

letting my inner black girl breathe

speaking up for myself

when it mattered allowing myself to be

vulnerable with others

and sometimes assertive knowing it was

more than okay finding the power in

every

the tough independent girl who came

through for everybody

but in ebernita that vulnerable quirky

girl

who didn’t have her time to shine my

power came from seeing me

as i said so that i could fulfill

my destiny resilience

well i built this through fighting them

stereotypes that they tried to place

upon me

i had been able to resist a system that

quite frankly

failed me but what i didn’t realize and

i’m telling you

you’re gonna be shocked by this is how

my journey would be

valuable to others who were having their

black girlhood

erased man i had just reclaimed ebenezer

i was getting to know her i’m out here

trying to grow her

then the world comes along telling me

i’m going to work with girls

and at that point i want to run right

back to tough ebby

because why tough evie was my comfort

zone

and i was still learning to show up as

a benito but in understanding my

resilience

i knew i had the ability to choose who

i wanted to be and show other black

girls

that they could do the same while they

were still young

so i created milk and honey bees

a safe space where black girls can be

creative and put themselves

first flourish in and beyond their

girlhood

be seen and heard i’m sure you can see i

love these girls

to this very day you see black women

like myself

and other black women holding and

leading their industries

the same places that i guess when they

were girls

failed to see understand and care for

them

so let me tell you this black girls are

quite literally

your future so let’s meet them in their

present

see her before you speak at her

ask her before you assume

learn how to pronounce her

name it’s not hard

accept her for who she is

do you know why because black girls

deserve

and demand a world that allows them to

be unique individuals

vulnerable not always strong healing

not always healers creative

and credited not criminalized

vocal not voiceless

you see me standing here today is not

about creating something in black girls

that wasn’t there to begin with

this is about recognizing that when you

live in a world

that acts like it doesn’t see you you

slowly start to believe that

you’re invisible that you don’t matter

when in reality you are everything and

inside and out so i’m going to speak to

you black girls

dear black girl your emotions are held

your voice is heard you

well you are visible in a world

that we continue to ask

when will you hear and see black girls