It was a bright and crisp winter morning. I was standing on the street outside of a building, gathering my thoughts before I would enter and begin my next meeting. I was wearing a floral print dress, a black blazer, beige heels and a parka – because, it’s still winter. I was holding a carryout cup of tea, my purse and laptop bag.

YOU SLUT. DO YOU WANT TO GET RAPED? From across the street, a man with mental health challenges stared me down and yelled furiously at me as he walked with purpose down the sidewalk.

The old me would have immediately averted my gaze, feel shame for drawing such attention and kick myself for putting myself in such a position.  The old me would have heard the voices of the women before me that said, be small.

BE STILL I stood my ground and stared back without emotion. My gaze did not waver, my footing stable. I remained motionless to defy the all-too-familiar feeling of fear.

I took stock of my surroundings.

Daylight.
We are in a public place.
My cell phone is in my pocket.

I’m safe.

AIN’T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT I began my meeting as if the verbal assault by a complete stranger never took place. I was pleasant and gracious as we went through the meeting agenda, while inside, I felt a little broken.

Pushing through is a skill, honed over many years and many similar situations, that compartmentalizes the shock and emotions that arise from being denigrated and diminished in public. It is a skill to carry on and focus on everything else when all you want to do is cry and process what brought you to that moment and question why this even happens.

VOX I had not told anyone what happened. It was only this morning’s light that reminded me of the situation. I wonder how many forgotten stories of assault, aggression and attacks are out there, brushed aside because we women have better things to do than to address each grievance and disrespect. This is not the first time. This will not be the last time.

I’m sharing this recent experience because I want to add to the conversation and lend a data point to show that women are constantly under surveillance and assault. This is real.

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To celebrate International Women’s Day 2019, Google released its “SEARCH ON: black girl magic” ad. Well-intentioned with a strong message of black fempowerment, the video failed to feature CaShawn Thompson – the woman who actually started the movement.

WATCH the Google video here.
READ the original article from designTAXI here.

SOURCE THE SOURCE Google is a smart company, so I’m willing to wager that the majority of employees have completed some sort of essay that required a firm knowledge of how and why one must properly note primary and secondary resources. Chicago Manual of Style? MLA? Anyone, anyone?

Even a complicated mathematical solution requires proper citations. Are you telling me that Google, ground zero for search, where the brand’s name has become a synonym for search, didn’t search the featured query at google.com? Unlikely.

Spoiler Alert, if you type in “black girl magic” into the Google search box, you’ll clearly see CaShawn Thompson’s name as Founder.

THICK AS THIEVES This is not merely an oversight. This is full-on idea theft and a misrepresentation of the genesis of the movement. By Google’s account, people just *happened* to start searching for a three words and lookahere, it’s a trend – completely ignoring the fact that Thompson had a direct hand on the name, the ethos, the associated assets and the driving force behind all that is #blackgirlmagic. PROVIDING A LITTLE COLOUR In 2018, Google released its diversity report which showed only 2% of its U.S. workforce identified as black. The lack of diverse voices shows in this campaign. Giving the marketing team the benefit of the doubt, even if there was representation, as a person of colour with first-hand experience of what it is like to be the only non-white face in the room to raise their non-white hand on the inappropriateness of an idea meant to illustrate inclusivity and diversity, I want to say: it’s fuckin’ hard. You don’t want to be the person who makes everything about race. You don’t want to be the person to clumsily explain the complicated nature of race relations while at the same time easing the growing white stress in the room. You also don’t want to lose your job for being “difficult”. Google has yet to comment on the situation, but I’m patiently waiting to see how they spin this. I suspect it will go one of three ways.B-b-but we had a black person on the creative team. They said it was okay. Sorry if anyone was offended. It was not our intention. We will now issue an official apology and donate $XX to a charity of Cashawn Thompson’s choice.*crickets* WHAT SAY YOU I am but one small voice, but I felt this was an important topic to discuss as the plagiarism / appropriation of ideas continues to be a challenge for women and particularly, women of colour. This is not the first time, nor will this be the last. If you’d like to show some support, here’s the link to Thompson’s twitter account.   — I started #BlackGirlsAreMagic to honor the Black women in my family and all around me that I saw doing incredible things, so much so that they appeared to be magical to me. The hashtag has been one of love and community-building for Black women online. I’m proud of how it has spread and been received, but it is also representative of my innovation and my work.— CaShawn Thompson —