CaShawn Thompson crafted Black Girls Are Magic as a proclamation of
Black women’s resilience in 2013. Less than five years later, it
had been repurposed as a gateway to an attractive niche market.
Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to
Black Girl Magic examines the commercial infrastructure that
absorbed Thompson’s mantra. While the terminology may have changed
over the years, mainstream brands and mass media companies have
consistently sought to acknowledge Black women’s possession of a
distinct magic or power when it suits their profit agendas.
Beginning with the
inception of the Essence brand in the late 1960s, Timeka N. Tounsel
examines the individuals and institutions that have reconfigured
Black women’s empowerment as a business enterprise. Ultimately,
these commercial gatekeepers have constructed an image economy that
operates as both a sacred space for Black women and an easy hunting
ground for their dollars.