Written by: Scott Girard
Published: May 26th 2022
The cafeteria at Madison College’s Truax campus Thursday was full of music, laughter, joy and magic. Specifically, Black Girl Magic. The Black Girl Magic Conference returned in-person for the first time since 2019, with about 600 girls in fourth through eighth grades from four school districts in attendance. It went virtual each of the past two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“For me, (Black Girl Magic is) having confidence in yourself as a Black girl and believing that you can achieve anything no matter the struggles,” Sherman Middle School sixth grader Fatima Jallow said.
The conference, which began as a Madison Metropolitan School District initiative in spring 2018 with 80 attendees, has expanded to year-round activities, with founder Rosa Thompson saying the annual conference is now an end-of-the-school year celebration. Having that celebration back in-person and in its fifth year with plenty of interest felt “crazy,” Thompson said.
“When I first started this, I never really imagined past the first year,” she said. “It means a lot that we can keep it new and fresh and people want to keep coming back.”
Thursday’s event featured a variety of speakers, breakout sessions and activities.
Kheris Rogers, a 15-year-old entrepreneur, motivational speaker, model, actress, fashion designer and CEO of the brand Flexin’ In My Complexion, gave the keynote speech about the importance of countering colorism, having been bullied for the darkness of her skin when she was younger.
Students also attended breakout sessions led by Black women community members, with sessions on representation of Black girls in the news, conflict resolution, robots and dance. Mendota Elementary School fifth grader Assa Diakite said while eating lunch that she “really liked the experience.”
“I’ve learned that you should be grateful for what you have in your skin color,” Diakite said. “(Black Girl Magic) means that a bunch of Black girls can do anything together and help out together.”
Thursday was Diakite’s first experience at Black Girl Magic, as it was for Ebony McKinley, the Mendota elementary parent liaison.
“It means being excited, it means history, it means definitely magic,” McKinley said. “It means magic to me to see so many Black and brown girls and staff come together to celebrate the beauty of being a Black person in America, especially during such a time as this.”
She said the program needs to “continue, continue, continue,” repeating the word for emphasis.
“I’m more excited than the kids,” she said. “It’s this feeling on the inside where my heart is racing, it’s like dancing in my tummy, just to experience such beauty. I’m going to remember this for the rest of my life, I really am.”
Mendota Elementary School fourth grader Laniyah Pinkerton had a long list of what she enjoyed about her first conference: making vision boards, listening to speeches in the auditorium and a “big dance-off” in the gym.
“It’s been super fun and exciting,” Pinkerton said. “Black Girl Magic means to me supporting my ancestors that were born before me.”
Nalani Dupaty, a sixth grader at Sherman Middle School, “liked the whole thing, really,” and said she will remember “to not let yourself down, to try your best and you’ll succeed.”
“You shouldn’t let other people tell you that you’re ugly, you shouldn’t let other people tell you what to do or how to feel,” she said. “What you think about yourself is up to you and not up to other people.”
Thompson hoped that the students would do plenty of learning while at the conference, but said there’s more for them to take away.
“I hope that they gain some sense of community, that we’re here, there’s a lot of us here to support them, there’s other girls who support them,” Thompson said. “And then just a sense of self.”
To the founder of the organization, Black Girl Magic has a lot of meanings.
“It means just being able to draw out the brilliance that’s already inside of you as a Black girl, finding whatever makes you special,” Thompson said. “There’s no one way to let your Black Girl Magic shine or embody Black Girl Magic. It’s something that’s within every Black girl.”
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