India Arie Retains It Actual: Twerking at Essence and the Energy of Private Presentation

Hey, y’all! Let’s discuss India Arie calling out twerking at Essence. Now, at first, let me make it clear that I attempt my greatest to not decide folks, particularly ladies. We face sufficient scrutiny as it’s. However this is the deal: presentation issues, particularly on this digital age we’re dwelling in. What you set on the market can stick round for years, and we’re seeing outdated movies and pictures resurfacing prefer it’s no person’s enterprise. Freaknik, anybody? I did not attend, however I bear in mind the Gamers Ball at Georgia Southern College. Cameras had been flashing in every single place, and also you wager your backside greenback I averted them. I needed to defend myself and my future and at 18 years outdated I had sufficient sense to know what may occur.

So, India Arie known as out artists like Megan Thee Stallion, and I gotta say, I believe she missed the mark on this one. Twerking is part of Megan’s profession, and also you’re gonna ask her to be liable for grown individuals who know they ain’t entertainers? Come on now. Twerk contests and getting on stage to shake what your mama gave you ain’t nothing new. It is simply that now, with social media, you see it in every single place you look. However this is the factor, y’all: let’s not overlook that on this dialog, the blame ain’t on Megan the Stallion. Nah, we should be pointing fingers on the males who constructed the hip-hop trade and the messed-up imagery they used to promote their music. Megan took their formulation, flipped it, and made it work for her. She ain’t like them video vixens who received used and paid peanuts. She’s a multi-millionaire. I can’t knock her hustle.  Perhaps the place Megan missed the mark was that she introduced up viewers contributors and never simply stored it to her dancers. 

However this is the place issues get difficult. We received two conversations occurring, and we aren’t even realizing it. Perhaps the issue lies in the truth that a few of these ladies do not know the distinction between fantasy and actuality. Megan the Stallion, she’s an entertainer. She creates an entire fantasy as a part of her job, and we eat it up. However these women who’re on the market twerking their hearts out, they received their very own jobs, objectives, and futures that most likely do not contain being dancers or entertainers. 

There is a time and place for all the things, y’all. I am all about private expression, however we gotta be conscious of the results. We won’t management each facet of our on-line presence, however we positive can take heed to the alternatives we make. Let’s be actual, the world isn’t honest, particularly for us Black ladies. However we will not let that cease us from striving for excellence and defending ourselves. India Arie might need her personal perspective, but it surely’s essential to keep in mind that all of us received completely different journeys, completely different goals, and other ways of constructing issues occur.