While speaking at the Black Women’s Agenda Symposium, Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton referenced a social media hashtag campaign used to spread the idea that black girls possess supernatural qualities that make them “magic.”
After praising the audience members twice for being “fierce,” Clinton said, “Now while your stories are often missing from the history books, make no mistake: you are the change makers, the path breakers, and the ground shakers. And you are proof, that yes, indeed, black girl magic is real.”
“Now I’ve been blessed to see this magic’s influence on kids and communities up close for decades, starting with my first job after law school, working with Marian at the Children’s Defense Fund. Marian’s belief was that every single child had worth and potential and deserved the opportunity to live up to their God-given potential with the tools and the support that every child needs,” she continued.
“#BlackGirlMagic,” taken from the phrase “black girls are magic,” is allegedly used to “illustrate the universal awesomeness of black women” simply because they are black.
Activist Michaela Angela Davis reportedly described the “black girl magic” as meaning black women are “shape-shifters, superheroes, styles-layers, soul scholars, truth seekers, sisters, healers, Holy Rollers, hotties, listeners, lovers, dreamers, divas, daredevils, doers of the damn thing … all at the same damn time.”
Examples of “black girl magic” include any accomplishment made by black women or photos of attractive black women. During the 2016 Olympics, “#BlackGirlMagic” was used to describe the success of Simone Biles and her teammates. Beyonce is also often cited as having “#BlackGirlMagic.”
“#WhiteGirlsAreMagic,” a hashtag dedicated to showing accomplishments of white women, however, was deemed unnecessary by the Huffington Post.