It's time to stop co-opting Black Culture
We have talked about appropriation here probably ad nauseam. And trust me, it makes me nauseous by the sheer overwhelming amount popular culture literally steals from Black Culture..
For one, the example of these two magazines.
One is the digital cover of Nylon Magazine, a magazine that talks music, beauty, and other elements of popular culture.
The other is the cover of Crwn Magazine, a quarterly magazine that discusses Black culture, beauty, living, and, of course, hair.
The similarities are close. Uncomfortably In fact, if the titles were missing, you might think this was the same magazine in different months.
The difference is this has been Crwn's aesthetic from the jump whereas Nylon, of which I had been an avid reader in the past and fell in love with for its DIY, cool, hip, and even grungy covers and articles, this is definitely a new look.
I call theft. As did Crwn Mag.
The Crwn Team immediately responded to the similarities, appropriately called out the glaring similarities. In their recent blog on the matter, they say:
The co-opting of Blackness culture and movements isn’t new. But stealing a whole aesthetic, wow, that’s a bold move, Nylon. *Throws old copies straight into the trash.* The nerve to take an entire look and feel of a completely different magazine to attempt to look “down”, and on Black History Month, of all months.
A vital question needs to be asked; if Nylon was so down with Black History and Black People, why is this the first time we are seeing it? CRWN asked this as well:
As Drake prophetically uttered: “I got fake people showing fake love to me. Straight up to my face...”
But Crwn is not the first and unfortunately won't be the last to experience this covert culture theft and appropriation. It may seem small, in light of more prominent culture culturing. But I say we must call out each and every offense. If they are going to steal, we are going to let the world know about it. We need to, we must.
This happens too often to creative Black people who create something, whether it is a new word (shout out to the young Black girl who created the phrase “on fleek” that white mainstream was quick to steal but slow to acknowledge at all) to ancient hairstyle (Fulani braids, Kim, not Bo Derek braids), to trying to make the Dashiki the “next kaftan” (here’s looking at you Elle Canada) to now straight jacking a whole aesthetic from a hair magazine. What about that Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner heavily hinting at a Black Lives Matter March and police standoff? What about when the same family dared to create shirts with their faces even near Tupac and Biggie? What about Marc Jacobs literally appropriating almost every damn season at NYFW? Loose Afros and ‘mini buns’ and Rachel Dolezal’s whole damn existence?
And that is only a few in the past 3 or 4 year’s.
To think of the hundreds of ways known (and the thousands of ways unknown) that popular culture jacks elements of Black Culture just to seem “cool” and thus bastardizes it, removes it from its birthplace and devoids it of all of its meaning until it is nothing but another trend, another hairstyle, another bit of slang.
In the words of M’baku on Black Panther, “We will not have it.” Because it is officially dragging season. And we of this generation are a lot more vocal (and have a whole lot less f*cks to give) and we will let the people know of the culture culturing and sheer lack of creativity for the co-opting of our curated colored cool in a heartbeat, flip our beads and drink our tea in the process.
This is certainly not a threat, it’s a fact. If you don’t want to be dragged, you need y’all to better.
For one, the example of these two magazines.
The similarities are close. Uncomfortably In fact, if the titles were missing, you might think this was the same magazine in different months.
The difference is this has been Crwn's aesthetic from the jump whereas Nylon, of which I had been an avid reader in the past and fell in love with for its DIY, cool, hip, and even grungy covers and articles, this is definitely a new look.
I call theft. As did Crwn Mag.
The Crwn Team immediately responded to the similarities, appropriately called out the glaring similarities. In their recent blog on the matter, they say:
"No, this is about the sneaky, insidious little ways that mainstream media consistently takes shortcuts to capture the dollars and influence of the incredibly powerful Black consumer...while paying us the least. It’s about appropriation masked as representation. It’s about the brand of “empowerment” that allows people to march with us in the streets and get all revolutionary one day (but only when it’s not that heavy police brutality stuff), and deny us access and resources and fair compensation the very next."
The co-opting of Blackness culture and movements isn’t new. But stealing a whole aesthetic, wow, that’s a bold move, Nylon. *Throws old copies straight into the trash.* The nerve to take an entire look and feel of a completely different magazine to attempt to look “down”, and on Black History Month, of all months.
A vital question needs to be asked; if Nylon was so down with Black History and Black People, why is this the first time we are seeing it? CRWN asked this as well:
“But my question is this: where were Nylon’s Black History Month covers the last 18 years when they were still a print magazine? February 2017’s (print) issue was covered by Lena Dunham. February 2016: Michelle Phan. February 2015: Anna Kendrick. 2014: Vanessa Hudgens... Is it a coincidence that they chose to “celebrate five amazing [Black] models killing the game” during the first February after discontinuing their print offering? Or is this an attempt to grab a piece of the Black Girl Magic for the low? ”
As Drake prophetically uttered: “I got fake people showing fake love to me. Straight up to my face...”
But Crwn is not the first and unfortunately won't be the last to experience this covert culture theft and appropriation. It may seem small, in light of more prominent culture culturing. But I say we must call out each and every offense. If they are going to steal, we are going to let the world know about it. We need to, we must.
This happens too often to creative Black people who create something, whether it is a new word (shout out to the young Black girl who created the phrase “on fleek” that white mainstream was quick to steal but slow to acknowledge at all) to ancient hairstyle (Fulani braids, Kim, not Bo Derek braids), to trying to make the Dashiki the “next kaftan” (here’s looking at you Elle Canada) to now straight jacking a whole aesthetic from a hair magazine. What about that Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner heavily hinting at a Black Lives Matter March and police standoff? What about when the same family dared to create shirts with their faces even near Tupac and Biggie? What about Marc Jacobs literally appropriating almost every damn season at NYFW? Loose Afros and ‘mini buns’ and Rachel Dolezal’s whole damn existence?
And that is only a few in the past 3 or 4 year’s.
To think of the hundreds of ways known (and the thousands of ways unknown) that popular culture jacks elements of Black Culture just to seem “cool” and thus bastardizes it, removes it from its birthplace and devoids it of all of its meaning until it is nothing but another trend, another hairstyle, another bit of slang.
In the words of M’baku on Black Panther, “We will not have it.” Because it is officially dragging season. And we of this generation are a lot more vocal (and have a whole lot less f*cks to give) and we will let the people know of the culture culturing and sheer lack of creativity for the co-opting of our curated colored cool in a heartbeat, flip our beads and drink our tea in the process.
This is certainly not a threat, it’s a fact. If you don’t want to be dragged, you need y’all to better.
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