Beauty brand My Black Is Beautiful released a video on Monday, delving into racial bias and the way black parents raise their children to cope with it.
For two short minutes, the video, titled "The Talk," shows several parents taking on the hard task of explaining to their children that they will have to endure certain injustices just because of their skin color. In some moments, the advice helps to lift trampled spirits — in others, it is intended to ensure survival. You can watch it below:
The clip spotlights key moments in the lives of several black families, in which parents solemnly discuss with their children why they need to work twice as hard as the other kids, or why they have to come home straight after band practice and always carry ID. A mother reminds her daughter that she is not "pretty for a black girl," as she was told, but "beautiful, period"; another consoles her son, feeling forgotten by his baseball team, and reminds him to "keep showing up," because he does in fact deserve the same privileges as everyone else.
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The video is part of a new campaign by the brand's parent company Procter & Gamble that brings together different voices to discuss issues of racism, awareness, self-esteem, and diversity. The campaign includes audio interviews with several people on the importance of knowing when to listen, making safe spaces for these conversations, and overcoming racially-motivated obstacles.
In a comment to HuffPost, P&G global company communications director Damon Jones stated that the goal of the video “is to help raise awareness about the impact of bias.” He also noted hopes to “make progress toward a less biased future by recognizing the power of people of all backgrounds and races showing up for one another.”
Due to the realities of bias and institutional racism in the U.S., the conversations depicted in the video are commonplace for black families. Beyond the baseline challenge of raising children, they are parenting in a society that profiles their kids from a very early age. It is everyone's responsibility to keep recognizing what makes "The Talk" a necessity, so that one day, as the video concludes, "we can end the need to have it."
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