African-American women embrace positive images offered by Facebook page communities
Household names like Essence, Jet, Heart & Soul, and EBONY have worked for decades to counter questionable images with positive alternatives, Facebook pages have allowed for the immediate creation of new communities that empower black women with images and words with a mere click.
Pointing to a “wonderful kind of confluence of events,” she attributes the burgeoning growth of these Facebook pages to what she calls “SmartPower:” the rise of a new mindset in which individuals are more self-determined, socially aware and are using digital platforms to change the sociopolitical dynamic between all of us.
“If I don’t see myself reflected, but I still have ideas, questions, and views, of course I’m going to start my own thing,” said Coleman, referring to this growing trend. “This is why we the see the advent of these pages.” For black women, who often comment that positive images of themselves are sorely lacking, the do-it-yourself model of media is a welcome balm for persistent negative representation.
Nichelle Gainer founded Vintage Black Glamour to provide a window on black history that is enticing as well as uplifting. “I like to post things that people have not seen, that they don’t know about and then they see it and go, ‘Oh, my God, where did that come from?,’” Gainer told NPR about her project in a recent interview.
Fans of Vintage Black Glamour showered her with compliments and gratitude for the existence of their community upon learning that NPR had spotlighted the page. A Facebook destination that exhibits rarely seen photos of black celebrities and achievers from decades past, Vintage Black Glamour exposes audiences to archival photographs of African-American celebrities like Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Stevie Wonder, and Langston Hughes that delight the Vintage Black Glamour subscribers, as well as images of lesser-known, yet equally glamorous individuals.
It’s quite impressive, and the ladies and gentlemen portrayed tend to look very stylish, coming from an era when people dressed up just to rehearse for a play. These photos are not something you are going to see in an everyday magazine — and her subscribers appreciate it.
“You do important work. We are grateful that you took the time, Nichelle,” wrote one audience member about the empowering nature of the photos.
“This depicts an era when black women knew how to carry themselves in a positive manner […] sometimes we forget these days,” read another comment. In this way, Vintage Black Glamour teaches style and beauty advice in a refreshing way, ironically by reviewing the past.
Vintage Black Glamour and other pages are able to focus only on the positive in part because their activity is not constrained by the business models limiting traditional media. Unlike their newsstand counterparts that are subject to a monthly or weekly publication cycle, Facebook pages like these churn out new content on a daily — sometimes, hourly — basis, allowing for these micro-media locales to provide an extensive offering of edify African-American pictures and facts. Additionally, because the creation of these pages require no capital or advertisers, the founders are not bound to any stipulations in terms of what type of content they can post.
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This freedom of expression is drawing people to interact with these online brands — and with each other — in droves. It could only be a matter of time before these gathering points become major media forces.
“I think it’s wonderful that we have those forerunners,” said Coleman, “but now its time to add to that because we as a people are so diverse.”
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