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Carefree Black Girls


Carefree Black Girls is a concept and movement that reportedly first emerged on the Tumblr platform; writer Zeba Blay was the first person to use the expression as a hashtag on Twitter in May 2013. Danielle Hawkins soon launched a blog on Tumblr by the same name. Writing at The Root, Diamond Sharp describes "carefree black girls" as an idea black women "have used...to anchor expressions of individuality and whimsy in the face of the heavy stereotypes and painful realities that too often color discussions of their demographic." At Refinery29, Jamala Johns said it was "a way to celebrate all things joyous and eclectic among brown ladies. Cultivated online and driven by social media, it’s one telling piece of a much wider development of inspiration assembled by and for black women." At Jezebel, Hillary Crosley Coker says "ladies like Chiara de Blasio (with her hippie flower headband), Solange [Knowles] and her eclectic style and Janelle Monae's futurism are their patron saints."

At The Root, Shamira Ibrahim connects the emergence of the "carefree black girl" concept to "black girl magic", another concept first developed and diffused by black women on social media.

As the "carefree black girl" concept gained currency, it has both faced some criticism and also prompted the development of related concepts and efforts, like "carefree black boys", also coined by Blay, and "carefree black kids" via the hashtag from Another Round host and Late Night with Stephen Colbert writer Heben Nigatu "#carefreeblackkids2k16";Blavity called the photos and videos posted with Nigatu's hashtag "the bright light we needed after this troubling week" in July 2016 marked by the police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philandro Castile.


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