Sista’ Speak: Why Is Bad B*tch the New Classy?

In a world where the focus should be on the systematic oppression of black men who are targets for the broken criminal justice system, I am focused on our young black girls.

In a world where we are arguing about a flag whose significance lasted so many decades ago that none of our ancestors are around to tell the story, I am focused on our young black girls.

In a world where people are screaming “#LoveWins” OR “#GaysWillBurn” on public platforms because SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) chose to make us all equal in the eyes of the law, I am focused on our young black girls.

I am actually never not focused on our young black girls. I have been so focused on them that I’ve recently decided to take a 21 day fast from social media so that I can take a break from seeing what I see is the slow decline of a black girl’s power.

Some time between Angela Davis and Elaine Brown raising their fists, and leading an army of Afro wearing, female Panthers, to the present, our young black girls decided that being a bad bitch was the new classy.

And when they did, they gave away their power.

Our power. My power.

The power to breathe. The power to fight. The power to believe.

To dream. To be a girl. To be black. To not be the young black girl associated with the flag that people are still fighting about.

A bad bitch belongs to a name and a title.

A lady is in a class of her own and belongs to herself.

Please… Share this with every little black girl. Young black girl. Old black girl. Tell them. Tell the world. Let them know…

That bad bitch is NOT the new classy.

Classy is the only classy.

And being an authentic black girl in America right now is the only way that we can keep our power.

– Tammy Rhodes, Consulting Editor, Garden Spices Magazine

Tammy Rhodes was born in Florence and raised in Muscle Shoals. “The Shoals is my home and I love it here.” She is an Administrative Assistant at the University of North Alabama, and is a minister, singer, director, actress, and poet. “I work in one of the most diverse offices on the campus of UNA. I am a proud dog mommy to my true loves, Shug and Doozy! I’ve been known to hum a little bit and to spit some spoken word every now and again. But mainly I am a thriving spirit trying every day to leave a positive imprint on the world.”