“My ‘Black’ is like this”: In response to a party without ‘blacks’, young people share photos rocking their afros

Note from BW of Brazil: If one were to analyze the title of this piece without the proper context, they would probably come to the conclusion that there was a black culture oriented party without the presence of black people. But that is not exactly what the piece is about. As this blog has repeatedly explained throughout its existence, as the term defining persons of visible African descent in Portuguese is ‘negro’, when Brazilians use the term ‘black’, in English, it often refers the hairstyle associated with the ‘Black Power’ movement in the United States, the afro. In fact, instead saying the words ‘Black Power’, again referring to the hairstyle, people often simply say ‘black’. Hence, in dialogue, one person could say to another, “I love your black”, or “your black is beautiful”, again in reference to someone’s afro. 

With that in mind, a popular party that’s been going down in Rio for a while now is called “Meu Black é Assim”, meaning ‘My Black is like this’. The most recent ‘Black’ party recently caused a stir online when some black (people) took a peek at some of the folks at the spot. Simply put, most of the people there could be classified as ‘melanin deficient’. But just for clarity here, if you take a look at some of photos you will actually see some black people there, but you won’t see many people rockin’ ‘blacks’. As such, some folks took the opportunity to respond to the party posting photos proudly rockin’ their ‘blacks’. 

Here’s my thing. As we can see, this party was open to anyone and as such you DO see black people there. But the problem I have is this: Brazilian society as a whole continues to view cabelo crespo (kinky/curly hair), natural black hair with disdain…as cabelo ruim or bad hair, which is why many of the posts on this blog have been dedicated to the rise of pride in these kinks and curls. The vast majority of people at the party will never be harassed by an employer because of their hair, or “do something” with their hair by a potential employer, flatly told they won’t be hired with that hair or even fired because of their hair. How many of these people stand in solidarity with those who face this type of discrimination so that this Eurocentric standard can be changed? And how many will just have fun at the party using a theme based on the very people who experience this sort of discrimination? Based on my experiences, I would say that 95-99% will say and do nothing about it. But hey, why ruin the party and bring everybody down with these politics, right?

“My ‘Black’ is like this”: In response to a party without ‘blacks’, young people share photos rocking their afros

Courtesy of Brasil Post

A party in Rio de Janeiro called “Meu Black é Assim” (My Black is like this) is provoking a great discussion on Facebook. The reason? There is nothing “black” in the photos posted of the party on the 25^th.

In spite of the name referring to “black power” hair (afro) and the party logo stamped the drawing of a black man with a “black power” on a vinyl record, the party, ironically, had a majority that was…White.

Of course, this didn’t get past social network users and in a few days the party’s page received thousands of criticism. “My black is so white,” commented one user. “The only thing it didn’t do was distribute those bizarre wigs,” said another. “Where is the black?” asked a young man. “Blackfraud” joked another user.

In fact, of the nearly 300 photos of the last “Meu Black é Assim” party, it’s possible to find about a dozen in which blacks appear.

After a flurry of comments mocking the party as “black without black”, the page responded that the party’s name is “in the Black context of black music” and that it is open to “anyone, the general public.”

In response to the justification of party organizers and to protest, many young people shared photos of their cabelos black power (afros) with the description “Meu black é assim.”

We gathered photos of some “blacks” posted in the comments of the page that were lacking at such a “black” party. Here are a few…(see more on ur Tumblr page here)

Source: Brasil Post