[Taylor Cassidy] Deepdive Into The Earthy Black Girl Aesthetic (ft. Ava Tetteh Ocloo) Black Girl Magic Minute

You've seen it on your feed. You've seen it on your FYP, on your Pinterest. You've seen your best friend that just got out of that toxic relationship start to wear more shea butter, more jewelry. Listen to Erica Badu and say grand rising sista a lot more often. What is it? It's the earthy black girl aesthetic. Where did it come from? And why do black women feel such a gravitation toward it? There's a whole american black history of revolution, resistance, and reclamation behind it. I'm Taylor Cassidy, and this is black girl magic minute.

All right, so to start our journey, we first need to figure out what makes an earthy black girl. So to help me out with this, I asked my friend and my roommate, Ava Tete Oklu. She is the certified earthy black girl. Okay. Literally, when you type it in on Pinterest, you'll see her picture.

I'm Avatar clue. I'm 20, turn 21. I'm a ghanaian American. I'm a tourist. I enjoy the luxuries of life. You know, to form an earthy black girl outfit. Need a head wrap? Let's say you have, like, a little bando top, like, a little bandeau top, a little tank top, and, you know, you can get yourself a maxi skirt. You know, you get yourself a maxi skirt.

Or, you know, you can wear a mini skirt. I love miniskirts. You can wear a little mini skirt and then get you some bangles. Some bangles on your arms. You can do an arm cuff, too. Accessories is what elevates the fit. You know, it low key tells a story, too, because where you get it from, you know? Cause I know all of my jewelry. Like, they really do have, like, such sentimental meaning and value to me.

It's, like, even what I'm wearing right now. My mom. My mom got me this. What do you know about the earthy black girl aesthetic?

Big black woman.

Flowy skirts and waist beads and jewelry and things of that nature. Head wraps and stuff.

Head wraps. Lots of jewelry. Usually, like, either, like, thrifted or, like, passed down.

All right, all right, all right, okay, okay. But, you know, these things aren't randomly chosen just for the aesthetic, so let's go deeper. So, african head wraps, hats, and head coverings have always had significance in the black community. And you can actually learn more into it in my church hat video. But head wraps in specific, have some very political resistance behind them. During slavery, women would put cloths on their head to protect their hair and their heads from the sun. But because of this, it became a status symbol to basically remind these women that they were slaves. It was basically a marker of, remember, you're, you know, enslaved or whatever, which we hate that.

Now, in Louisiana, during the 17 hundreds, there was a significant amount of black people that were living free and in financial wealth. They had community. There were artists, authors, and just to note, just remember, this was before the Louisiana purchase, so this area was still governed by spanish authorities. So there got to a point where the non black people started looking around and being like, wait a minute. These negroes got too much drip. Sally, what's going on? And they started to get a little jealous, right? So, in 1786, from fear of us being, I don't know, the drippiest humans to exist on this planet that we are, the spanish governor, Esteban Rodriguez Miro, implemented the tingong las, which forced all black women to cover their hair to remind them that they were part of the slave class. Okay, what did we do? What we always do. We remixed that shit.

We popped out with the head wraps, the flowers, the jewelry on the head wraps as a sign of beauty. So as much as it was a sign lane piece, it was also an act of resistance. One of the most famous american natural hair movements was the black power movement of the sixties and seventies. These sentiments were found in many amazing black civil rights leaders, like Malcolm X, that helped to fan the flames of encouraging black people to really look at the systems and thought process that have been indoctrinated into us by white people to hate ourselves. It was encouraged to embrace your blackness and make sure to protect it and never let anyone devalue it by any means. This resulted in the black community putting down their hot combs and raising a fist with freshly picked froze. Just like the head wraps, it became a sign of resistance, except this time, the point was to come back to the root of ourselves and embrace it fully. As the decades went by, pro blackness spread, and therefore, there were more hairstyles that were popularized in the US, like box braids, twists, cornrows.

Black is beautiful.

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I see it all the time on text, where it's like the. The black woman urged to put on the put on the earthy black girl aesthetic. So why do you think that we are so attracted specifically to this aesthetic?

It is a form of, like, self love, almost, like, not to get deep, but, like, even, like, just wearing gold jewelry. I just feel so, like, I'm taking care of myself. Like, I feel good about myself. I'm putting on these outfits. I'm putting it on this cocoa butter. I'm soft, I'm smooth, I'm femme, I'm clean. Like, I just look nice.

I feel free.

Like, I think for me and maybe other kind of, like, African Americans, something about the aesthetic may feel kind of like a being in tune with your roots in a way, just because of the spirituality of it. And if, like, you're into crystals and things like that, I don't know. I think that can kind of maybe fill that hole that some people may feel.

Since hip hop popularized, big gold chains, cuban links, lots of gold jewelry, and the beauty of the nineties brought in long acrylic nails, bamboo earrings. We have seen culture time and time again label it as ghetto, label it as unfashionable, as not elegant. And worse, we've seen them take it, copy it, and call it something else without giving any credit or money to the originators. So for me, with the earthy black girl aesthetic, whenever I see black women layer layers and layers and layers of jewelry, of gold, of beads, I see it as a big middle finger to cultural appropriation.

Like, when she came back from work, you know, I'll follow in after her, and, you know, she's just, like, you know, winding down, and I'll just, like, look around. And I never really touched her clothes, but I was up in her scarves and her jewelry. Cause she has so much jewelry. I feel like that's where I get my fondness from jewelry from. I get it from her. I'll get the scarves, you know, I'll put around my neck and be like, oh, my gosh, like, this is me. Or I'll tie it around my waist, because that's like, that's what they do in ghanaian culture. Like, you'll have, like, a scarf and just tie around your waist, especially if you're wearing, like, the african attire, you just tie a little piece of cloth around your waist.

So I'll just do that and stuff.

Plus, a lot of these accessories have direct traditional links to Africa cultures. Like waste beads, for example. Like the Krobo people in Ghana who use waste beads for coming of age and for status. Also, among the crowbowl and Ashanti people, they believe that the waist beads hold spiritual energy depending on the material used. So to wear these styles influenced by african cultures, the earthy black girl steps away from mainstream whiteness and embraces traditions found in blackness.

My style then in, like, high school, middle school, it was very much like tumblr, indie vibes, kind of, like, in that way, I kind of was, like, trying to, like, assimilate a little bit because, you know, I feel like I wasn't. I wasn't really as in touch with my culture for real. And so I was just, like, kind of just, like, turning to other things, like, turning to what was, like, more acceptable, I guess. I think it was, like sophomore year, I had these faux locks, and they were, like, really big. Like the. It was like rihanna in the oceans ate, like, the big, big dreadlocks. And, you know, I went to school and everybody was kind of, like, looking at me crazy. I was like, oh, no.

And I kind of liked them because I was like, oh, you know, like, you know, just big locks. I was like, wait, this looks kind of cool. But then, like, I went to school, my majority white school, and everybody was looking at me funny. People was like, oh, it looked like you smell like weed. I was like, not the microaggression. And I think once I graduated high school and I kind of left that environment and I was more with, like, myself because I didn't go to college, I took a gap year. It turned into gap years. But I started getting more into fashion and started, like, you know, looking around, like, okay, like, what's something that I like outside of, like, what people, what mainstream is? What is it that I like and what I resonate with? And I just found myself appealing more to, like, you know, those, like.

Like, the, like, the earthy aesthetic. Like, I was, like, getting more. I felt more grounded, and I. And the more I embraced my african culture and my gangan roots, I really was like, okay, you know, I did more hair wraps. You know, I'm wearing my little earth tones.

So now that we know what makes the earthy black girl ain't all this the same as boho chic.

After learning what bohemian chic was, like, five minutes ago.

No, like, the white people, though.

I guess when I think of bohemian, I think of, like, I guess, free people. And so then, like, white people.

If you put a white woman in the black girl earthy aesthetic, you could definitely tell, like, what she's trying to go for. And you'd be like, oh, that's cultural appropriation.

Dreadful. Oh, the dirty, matted up locks from white people. That's what I think of.

Especially during February. I'm always like, you feel comfortable during black history month?

Because I feel like they are similar in aesthetics. But I would say I think earthy black girl feels more authentic. Where I think sometimes bohemian can come off as culturally appropriative.

They can still call the cops. They might be giving black, but they are still. Lights. Come on now.

Speak on it. Well, they do have a lot of similar elements. Earth tones, flowing fabrics. The word bohemian comes from the french word la boheme, which was used to describe the Roma people and their styles. But Roma people were often not celebrated and were very much oppressed. They faced harsh oppression for their nomadic lifestyles and their culture. So after the French Revolution, french artists, being in poverty, started using whatever they could find to express themselves through their clothing. So oftentimes they were using mixed mask fabrics, scraps of fabric to try and create something.

So as the style progressed, they started to call it bohemian. As a reference back to the roman people. The bohemian look became a sign of dissenting from the mainstream. And dissenting from people empowered, dissenting from the norms in society. Bohemian, the style became a sign of anti establishment thinking. This was also the style of hippies, flower power, dissenting from the mainstream in the sixties. And they still used a lot of inspiration from Roma people. Bohemian style is much more than just a fashion trend.

Bohemian is a culture on its own, one that is associated with a specific ideology and complicated history. The bohemian fashion represents an ideology that presents a substitute for the traditional way of dressing, combined with a more progressive, free thinking lifestyle and a social standpoint against everything from materialism to society's restraints. That's great and all, and that's very true, but I'd like to find out that in my research, I started to realize that the bohemian style, while it is anti establishment and does dissent away from mainstream cultures, it takes a culture and style and look from an oppressed group, calls it something different, and doesn't lift up the group that was being oppressed, that they took it from. Doesn't that sound familiar? Catch it. While both styles have very similar looks, they differ in a few ways. Boho and bohemian have roots from Roma people, whereas the earthy black girl aesthetic have african roots. While Boho was an aesthetic grown from resistance, it was not based on that people's traditional culture. It was put on the bohemian aesthetic.

The core of it is stepping away from the mainstream and stepping away from traditional values of the culture that you're in. But with the earthy black girl aesthetic, a lot of it is going back to your traditions, going back to where you came from and connecting and adopting the practices of your ancestors. So Boho and earthy black girl are not the same.

Why do you think so many black women are attracted to this style?

You go on tv, you see, like, 80 different types of white people and, like, five types of black people, where it's, like, this is, like, one of those things where it's, like, everyone in it is very supportive of each other, and, like, black people having those kind of communities where it is, like, the majority of black people is always very helpful.

Wear brown skin. The dirt is brown. Like, we're just one with the earth already, so why not look the part? I don't know. It's like, it's comfortable. It's freeing. It's liberating. What's not to love about the earthy black girl aesthetic? Like, it's everything. Because so much has been taken from us as black people.

You know, we're now in a period where we're trying to, like, go back and, like, find our roots and connect with our roots.

There was a point in time where we just didn't know that we were spearheading a lot of the trends. And so now that we know, it's like, it just feels more authentic when we do it.

It just feels more natural and comfortable to me. And every time, I just, like, you know, put together an outfit, and it is, like, just kind of, like, earthy, I guess. I mean, I just feel like, okay, like, this is me. Like, this is what I've kind of curated for myself, and this is where I feel comfortable. If you're scared of being judged and that's preventing you from trying out an aesthetic or trying anything out, they're gonna judge you anyways. Sorry. Like, whether you do it or not, you will still be judged, because that's something that we don't have control over. We don't have control over how, if people would judge us or not.

And I feel like you judging yourself before others can judge you, it's like, that's a double whammy. So y'all can find me on Instagram. O c l o. I mean, I might. I might. I might pop out with a YouTube channel. You know, y'all give me a follow if I still didn't post a video. It's coming.

Be patient. Okay?

That's.

That's all I gotta say. Thank you, Ava.

At its core, the earthy black girl is something extreme, extremely personal to each black person. It's not about how good you can tie a head wrap. It's the intention of educating yourself about your ancestors values, falling back in love with beauty, defined for black people by black people, and exploring spiritualities that come from seeking your own roots. So no rhetoric. Black girl is not boho. It's not tumblr. Indeed, it's not grunge. It's freedom according to how each person defines it.

So, to sum all of this up, the earthy black girl aesthetic erodes the restrictions that come from mainstream whiteness to clear a path for black women to explore freely the core of who they truly are. Now, don't go yet. Our black owned business for this week is Jackie Aina's company, forever mood. This is not sponsored, but. Hey, Jackie, check it, check it, check it, check it. I absolutely love these candles. I have. I bought two of them, and then I was gifted, like, three of them because that's how much I love them.

I burn every single one. They smell so good. They last such a long time. Like, I could rave. I could rave. So if you're interested in a new candle, stop by forever mood by Jackie Aina. And also, she came up with a perfume line recently. I want it.

I want that to close us out. We have tenacity with our round of winning, which are black women that are just winning this week. Tenacity, take it away. It's a win that I hold my head high it's a win that my dreams reach the sky it's a window I think I'm so fire and I will say I've made up my mind w I n n I n g w I n n I n g w I n n I n g rand of winning. Round of winning. For more black girl magic minute, you can subscribe to this YouTube channel, and you can look at all of the episodes that I've done over the past couple of years. If you want to listen to more of me, I'm on TikTok radio on Sirius XM, and if you want me to answer your question, or if you need some advice, just comment it below and I'll answer it on my segment, Taylor's DM's, which comes on every Monday on SiriusXM. And I don't just report and do stories here.

I'm also a correspondent on Nick News on Nickelodeon, where we share news for kids. If you want more black history black culture videos, I have over 50 under my fast black history series on my TikTok and my instagram. And before you go, take a deep breath. It's okay to mess up sometimes. You're human. What matters is how you react to it and how much grace you have over yourself in continuing your journey. Remember that they call it black girl magic because it is unbelievable how beautiful your spirit is. So keep your head up, keep your dreams up, and keep rising.

Round one.

Okay. Round, round, round, clap. Okay, look at me as if you're, like, talking, like, yes, super magic. Let me get off this.