Juneteenth is an official federal holiday now, and what better way to commemorate the emancipation of slaves than for MSNBC to kick off a multipart series on culture with a panel featuring illustrious go-getters like Joy Reid, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Tarana Burke, and Ayanna Pressley?
These women have triumphed over so much adversity in their lives to get to where they are now — which is sitting around a table, discussing how hard it is to be a successful black woman in a world where not every stylist knows how to do your hair and makeup and magazines will invite you for a photo shoot and not tell you that you’re going to be on the cover:
In this MSNBC special, "Culture Is: Black Women," panelists complain about the racism of:
— TV make-up stylists not tending to their hair
— Insufficient make-up supplies
— Inadequate style prep before shooting a TIME Mag cover
— Workplaces banning braids, twists & bantu knots pic.twitter.com/HZDSVTTm3K— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 20, 2022
This bit from Progressive Democratic Girl Squad member Ayanna Pressley is particularly tasty:
“What I think people misunderstand is that this is not, um, vanity. It’s not a diva moment. It’s the fact that, as black women, every single thing about us is politicized and criminalized.”
“This is not vanity. It’s not a diva moment.” It’s just a bunch of women complaining that it’s so hard to put together a good glam squad these days!
As for “every single thing about us is politicized,” well, Pressey and Co. are literally sitting around lamenting the racism inherent in not knowing everything there is to know about black women’s hair and makeup needs.
Oppression is being given a Time Magazine cover.
— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) June 20, 2022
Oh, the humanity!
This is a black bourgeoisie grievance session. https://t.co/D0jivradu9
— Adam B. Coleman, President of Aintblackistan (@wrong_speak) June 20, 2022
It really is.
"I mean, don't you hate it when your driver shows up 15 minutes late? I have this feeling that if I were white, they'd be on time."
— Adam B. Coleman, President of Aintblackistan (@wrong_speak) June 20, 2022
This episode of MSNBC’s series should’ve just been called “First World Problems.”
Black women in America face a great deal of adversity and have very steep hills to climb. And this little roundtable discussion does absolutely nothing to address any of it. Nobody who’s actually struggling wants to hear about how hard it is to get through a TIME Magazine photo session. Celebrities of any race complaining about minor inconveniences tend to piss people off.
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