BLACK Black

BLACK Black is what you could our honest heart. BB has its head under water in mixed company, only surfacing when it clocks a receptive face. Other than that it’s only in the mind, laughing and commenting.

Luckily enough I haven’t felt like the absolute ‘Other’ in my places of work but BB isn’t displayed in its full glory. Is that the opposite of authenticity? I shouldn’t feel awkward when BB creeps to the surface in my colleagues conversations, and they laugh how BB does or loosen words in line with what compliments the culture, but it kind of scares me. That the other people will see it as them being ‘too bold’ or it somehow shows us up. Obviously it doesn’t but I find myself wanting them to calm down before it goes too far. Too far into what though? I just never want there to be a reason for it to backfire onto us. I wince unnecessarily.

I don’t think I’m the only one who has felt this but I am working to make it baseless. BB won’t be understood or comfortable to everyone but its harmless and enriching. Therefore if BB chooses to naturally float to the surface, I will learn to embrace it wholeheartedly and defend its right.

Probably the reason I love leopard print

I will stan for the film version of the Cheetah Girls 4 EVA! Instagrammer Rickey Thompson recreating ‘Cinderella’ with his friends reignited my passion and I found a semi-decent YouTube version of the film. A GEM! There are a fountain of reasons to love movies 1 & 2, from the score to the girl power. It beats High School Musical hands down and it was quite Black so obviously I was drawn to it.

However, re-watching the films as an adult made me realise the depth of the storylines. The first instalment deals with race/identity, friendship, the bravery of ‘no’, family and abandonment. Chanel feels lonely when her mum gets a new man and Dorinda doesn’t even know what colour she is due to her being fostered from an early age. The second film handles pushy parents who inspire lies and how denying your situations harms your relationships. So we are getting taught the facts of life while we belt out ‘Strut’!

Such themes were not absorbed by eight year old me but over a decade I can appreciate the film in a new way. It also could be the underlying reason I love leopard print.