Good Morning SwaGgers.... it's Cafe Royal checking in! 

So, as my lovely sister Kaboom! already set forth, Colored Girl Swag's purpose is to educate, motivate and inspire... there are too many things that go on without discussion and analysis, too many women out here going thru self-esteem crises, abuse, unhealthy relationships... too many women trapped in a failed American Dream, suffering from what the WORLD tells us is a double-minority, failing to understand that it is that joint identity of Woman and Colored that makes us rich beyond years... deserving of all things gilded and jeweled...

And... there are too many Colored Men - behold - BROTHAS, that are running around believing the definitions AND stereotypes AND predjudices AND oppressions that us as Colored Women are contextualized in... 

instead of support, we often get ridicule 

instead of love we often get pain and abuse

 instead of shared success and equal opportunity, we often get dirty rules and regulations; unfair laws and practices to keep us subordinate...

And while ya'll might thinkin "Woah she just got too deep on me!" ... well... it is that deep. Problem is, it wouldn't be if day to day someone thought to challenge a sly comment, or a degrading image....S.W.A.G. is committed to challenging... we will grow as a community of multi-ethnic sisters... and the support of our multi-ethnic brothas will grow as well. 

CGS is not exlusive, yet our philanthropy and outreach is specific. We walk each day to level out the battleground in our streets, in corporate America and in Domestic households... in every media outlet be it print, world wide web, or radio streams ... we S.W.A.G.

-Cafe Royal

The Seed

So one Friday night me, Fancy, Hollywood, and Mo went to see this documentary The Souls of Black Girls. The whole film was created and executed by a crowned fellow SWAGger named Daphne Valerius. The film, meant to be her graduate thesis only, just exploded onto the scene.

The film was about Black girls and how they're affected by the media and images in the media. Basically, out of the mouth of babes, they feel ugly and unwanted by our society. They feel pressure to have the long straight hair and be thin. Pressure to conform to the European standards of beauty constantly shoved in our faces. It's an epidemic, this eroding self esteem.

I know because I've been there. I grew up the fat girl, dieting/starving since the age of ten. I never understood why everything I did was so funny to the world...why laughter seemed to follow me no matter what I did. I'd hide in my room where it was safe... f**king hating myself.

One of the women Daphne interviewed apologized. She apologized because as she put it, "this happened on her watch."

And her comment brought tears to my eyes because...it was happening on my watch too and there I was, knowing intimately the turmoil these girls are going through and yet doing NOTHING about it.

So a seed was planted. In the fertile minds of myself and the other S.W.A.G. visionaries.

As we are in a position to do; we will.

Not on our watch. If we can dry the tears of one woman or inspire pride in one girl, then we have done our job as Colored Girl S.W.A.G.

~Kaboom!