Rio 2016: A Lesson in #BlackGirlMagic and the Importance of Representation

Alma J Hill
Aug 31, 2016
4 min read

As a black woman, I constantly find myself subconsciously looking out for everyday instances of #BlackGirlMagic. Growing up in a culture filled with routine box perms, and a stigmatized standard of what passed as “presentable” for a black woman, I recognize the changing landscape, the effect it has on my confidence, even as an adult, and I embrace it wholeheartedly. I catch myself crowd surf with my eyes, picking out fellow sisters for inspiration. My heart skips as I see a young mother pushing her toddler in a shopping cart at the grocery store, her innocent face framed by a perfectly picked 4C afro. I swell with pride as a friend checks in at JFK on Instagram to join CeeLo Green on stage, the female percussionist in his band. In America, statistically, the most disadvantaged group of able-bodied working-aged Americans is the Black Woman. Despite holding more Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees than any other demographic, African American women maintain one of the highest unemployment rates. Even when we are employed, we are often paid much less for equal work. With statistics like these, what kinds of promises do we make to our daughters? Work hard, go to school, it’ll all workout? Not so much. Do we instill in them the harsh mantras of Papa Pope? To work twice as hard for half as much? Or do we look to show them real life representative superheroes? The controversy that marred the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics was blissfully overshadowed by an abundance of #BlackGirlMagic. The winning streak started with this season's most popular gymnast, Houston’s petite teen Simone Biles. At just 4 ft 8 in tall, and 16 years old, Biles flew across the Olympics floors with routines that often seemed to defy the laws of physics, and into the record books, joining the best gymnasts in history, and leaving Brazil with 5 gold medals, the most ever won by a single gymnast at an Olympic games.

Then, from the corner of our eye, another young black woman suddenly took center stage. Simone Manuel, another Houston native, shocked the world, and herself when she became the first black woman to win a medal in individual swimming. Her time shattered all her previous records, but also pulverized stereotypes involving African-American aqua-phobia. “This medal isn’t just for me,” Manuel said in a post-race interview. “It’s for all the people who believe they can’t do it” These two made the U.S. team proud of the spirit of African Americans and represented a positive image of Black women at the Olympics early on. But then, incredibly, the magic began to manifest itself deeper. Rafaela Silva of Brazil won Gold in Judo, but it was her Afro-Latina background that she held up high with her medal. Silva was raised in the infamous Brazilian favelas, in a culture that still houses deep anti-black sentiments. Specifically, she is from the Cidade de Deus, or the City of God, portrayed in the award winning 2002 film of the same name. Earning the first 2016 Gold for Brazil, Silva, another black woman proved her worth in the face of adversity. And then, incredibly, the list continued to grow. Almaz Anaya of Ethiopia was so astounding with her Track and Field win, one NBC reporter was quoted as saying “What we have witnessed [with Anaya] is one the finest athletic achievements we’ve ever seen.” Ibtihaj Muhammed represented the diversity of the black Muslim diaspora as she fenced for team USA in a hijab, the first athlete in history to do so.

Gabby Douglas, Allyson Felix, Claressa Shields, Kristi Castlin, Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, Michelle Carter, Dalilah Muhammad, Elaine Thompson. All Black Women from Across the world who won Gold for their countries and proved that being a black woman in this world means something. Their actions were our voices. Their pride was our pride. Their win, was collective, our win. And as we looked on, little black girls from around the world, watched in wonder, as women who looked like them, accomplished great things. The diaspora of #BlackGirlMagic is not only just as important as the representation of African culture; it is at the core. By instilling a sense of confidence in our young women, we are consistently defying a system that consistently undervalues us. We are cementing in them essential principles, while simultaneously bestowing upon them a hard truth: that they will work tirelessly, without praise, with little appreciation, with hardly even a word of encouragement 99% of the time. That they will be beaten down with adversity, that many will look down upon them, and their expectation of success will always be treated with disdain. We must teach them that despite all of this, if you look closely, you will always find #BlackGirlMagic, alive and well. That in their lives, they must always stay true to embracing that same spark within themselves. Rio 2016 reminded the world that Black women are a powerful force of nature, that we are not to be reckoned with, that we will overcome adversity, again and again. As a Black woman, I carefully log each incident of BlackGirlMagic, a personal reserve to boost my confidence in myself and my culture. Rio 2016 gave me life, but also, left me in awe, and maybe the teensiest bit envious of what is to come for the next generation of Black Girls. I can only hope that we can continue along this trend of publicly acknowledging the accomplishments of black women, and treat them with the value and respect they deserve. This is the promise we can make to our daughters. The promise of #BlackGirlMagic.