#ravenelysetv

I really didn’t want to do this. I like to think of my tumblr as a collaborative platform for sharing inspiring, heartwarming, and enlightening imagery, musings, and discourse featuring black women across the diaspora. While I do like to validate and reaffirm the very real pain that many of us experience just by virtue of existing, I really love to support our art, our music, our style, our successes, and our overall contributions to society. Even though we are very often on the front lines of various social movements, bearing the burden of activism and vigilance while others benefit, we still manage to experience a disheartening amount of disregard and devaluation of our lives and contributions. It is for this reason that I’ve decided to discuss this topic. I’m not the biggest fan of divisive rhetoric amongst black women, but there comes a point where you have to call a spade a spade. Even if that spade is held by a fellow “sister”. 

It was recently brought to my attention that two popular Youtube vloggers, RavenElyseTV and VickyLogan have posted some incredibly troubling tweets over the years regarding blacks. If you’ve followed my blog for some time, you know that I don’t mind calling folks out when necessary for their blatant ignorance. And though it’s not like this is the first (or the last) time that such a thing would occur, I find it particularly egregious considering that these two women have an entire platform built largely off of the backs of black subscribers and followers. Mainly black women. Check the tweets for yourself:

In reference to Blacchyna:

Some of the tweets have since been deleted now that many have caught on, but screen shots are forever. And there are more, I just didn’t want to make this ridiculously long. The sheer volume of separate tweets from separate occasions tells me that this is not an isolated issue. It’s not one off color remark made in poor taste, it’s obviously indicative of longstanding belief systems about the very people their channels and online empires are supported by. These women are beauty gurus, touting product reccs and beauty advice to the very women they feel superior too. They dislike and disrespect us, but court our views? They think we’re inferior but want us to purchase their products? Buy from their affiliate links? Comment and like their posts? They have in essence handed us their asses to kiss and demanded compensation in return. What kind of deal is that? To think so lowly of a group whose blind support funds your lifestyle?

This is not acceptable. To the impressionable, beautiful, talented, intelligent young women (and men) who are subscribers and followers of such drivel, please take the time to consider what you are supporting. All our skinfolk ain’t our kinfolk. Colorist verbal abusers who will take your money while insulting you? Simple zealots who will diss our culture while sitting on a platform built off our backs? The answer is no.