00:00Protect Black women. Yes, 100% facts, as the kids are saying these days. This
00:06catchphrase may sound great as a chant, a hashtag, or even a trendy bandwagon to
00:11jump on, but it clearly needs to be done. Here's the thing though, safety and
00:15protection can't be implemented. It must be constructed. So what does protect
00:20black girls even mean? Allow me to over-explain it to you.
00:25Black feminine expression, whether young or old, is often reduced to
00:29stereotypes like loud, sassy, hypersexual, or confrontational. The sapphire, the
00:35jezebel, or the mammy. Black girls fall victim to something that's plagued
00:38American blackness since slavery, the perception trap, or adultification. These
00:43concepts allow for the world to subscribe to a dangerous way of thinking. Black
00:47girls need less nurturing, protection, and support than any other group. In order to
00:51even begin protecting black girls, we must first allow them to be seen as girls.
00:56This clarity and vision comes in many ways, from Cyntoia Brown to Jasmine Barnes to
01:00handcuffed six-year-olds. Yes, that happened. We're failing our black girls. When it
01:06comes to black girls, innocence is a privilege. Madison Moore is the six-year-old
01:10black girl who was handcuffed and placed under the stairs after she took candy from
01:16her teacher's desk. They hurt it. They hurt. Did you understand why he would put
01:22handcuffs on you? It's been reported that they wanted to teach her a lesson. They
01:26taught her an early lesson, that even in childhood she can be criminalized. Black
01:31girls are disproportionately punished in schools, which contributes to the
01:35construct and conditioning of criminal behavior. The school-to-prison pipeline does
01:40exist. What about the black female student who was dragged out of her desk during
01:44class? The officer was booted from the force but faced no charges. But guess who
01:51was arrested? The girl he dragged and another young black female student who
01:55recorded the video. Apparently these girls violated South Carolina's
01:58controversial disturbing schools law. Students are not to interfere with or
02:04disturb in any way other students or teachers in the schools. And if you broke this
02:08law, boom! There would be a misdemeanor on your record that could be punishable by a
02:13fine or incarceration. The law has since been amended to take away criminal charges
02:18but it was still in practice when these black girls were arrested. Wow! So a teen
02:23with an attitude can end up in jail for the hormonal rollercoaster that is
02:28adolescents? Girls can't be girls, especially if they have melanin. So that
02:32whole boys will be boys excuse that exempts young men and some old men from
02:36consequences of bad behavior seems to skip over young women, especially young
02:41black women. Brock Turner walked out of jail early Friday morning after serving
02:45just three months for sexual assault. In order to fully protect black girls we've
02:50got to abolish racism because racism is definitely at the center. It's no secret
02:56that schools and disadvantaged neighborhoods serve more students of
02:59color. So many of those schools have a no tolerance policy that leaves students
03:03punished instead of supporting. Education is key in setting up a strong foundation
03:08and as corny as it sounds, educators must lead and teach love. They must take
03:14responsibility of being the guides of students pathways to their careers and to
03:18the rest of their lives. And for that we need to pay them more but that's a
03:22different battle for a different day. Or is it a part of the same battle? If
03:26educators were fairly compensated and provided with the resources that they
03:31needed, it would be a lot easier for them to push for culturally diverse and
03:35inclusive curriculum to engage people of color and they'd be more likely to
03:39create a space for learning and growth. I'm not saying this is a foolproof plan
03:44of action for educators but it's a start at protecting our girls to break the
03:48chains of the school to prison pipeline. While we're on the topic of prison for
03:52the Centoya Browns and many women like her who are in prison for protecting
03:57themselves against their abusers, we failed you. According to research, black
04:01girls are seen as sexual by the age of five. This mentality has been adopted from
04:06you guessed it, slavery. And it's been dragged through the centuries causing
04:11black girls to be blamed for their own sexual assaults or have society assume
04:15that they're sexually advanced. You've heard it before and probably from someone
04:20in your own indoctrinated family. Ass tail girl, loose girls or Jezebel. It's that
04:26sexualizing of black girls that caused society to believe us less when we
04:30assert that we've been raped or harmed sexually in any way. Combine that with the
04:36systemic racism that perceives black girls as sexually mature and less
04:40innocent and you have the manifestation of our system. The same system that made
04:45Centoya Brown a criminal as a child instead of a hero. She was a teenager and
04:50a victim of sex trafficking and she was facing 51 years for killing a man
04:55allegedly as self-defense. Centoya's clemency is in no doubt a victory but it's
05:00bittersweet. Governor Bill Haslam's office said it in a statement, this decision
05:04comes after careful consideration of what is a tragic and complex case. You heard
05:10that? Careful consideration? Complex case? That's called humanity. He
05:15considered Centoya as a teenager who faced massive trauma and was afraid for her
05:19life. He also said transformation should be accompanied by hope if it could
05:24only be that simple. A little humanity goes a long way. The soot-covered glasses
05:28society sees black women through have to change. Black girls need protection
05:33from sexual predators, the legal system, and everyday life. Punishments need to
05:38match the crime. Governor Haslam proved that cases can be reconsidered. The
05:42surviving R. Kelly doc ushered in more pervasive conversations about rape and
05:46sexual assault. In protecting black girls we need to create the space and cultivate
05:51the courage for survivors to speak out and seek justice. We need to allow girls
05:56to be girls without harsh punishments that don't fit the crime. There's
06:00organizations like Girl Wonder, Black Girls Rock, Young Women's Empowerment
06:04Project, and Essence's own Girls United who are all doing the work of lifting up
06:09black girls and helping shift the culture on everything society paints them out to
06:14be. It's organizations like these that can help us solidify a bright future for
06:19black girls. We need to support them in their efforts. Protecting black girls is a
06:23full-time lifelong commitment. Many little black girls grow up to be the strong
06:28black women who continue to carry this country and our own protection on our backs.
06:33So that same unconditional love and support that we offer, all we want is that you
06:38keep that same energy when it comes to our girls.
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