Podcasts are a great way for people to have fun conversations that are unfiltered and real. Not only that, but podcasts are also a new way to tackle issues in the world that we don’t often hear people talk about. Black Girls Texting is a podcast that is both fun and one that keeps it one hundred.
Chelsea Pinky, Glynn Pogue and Sade Parham are the hosts of Black Girls Texting; a 1-hour dialogue unpacking conversations held in their group chat—6a space they consider the most modern medium for unfiltered exchanges between girlfriends in real time. The straightforward simplicity of the title is a play on the idea that, yes, Black girls can make magic but, as human beings, we also do the everyday; Black Girls Work, Black Girls Cook, Black Girls Laugh, Black Girls Travel, Black Girls Live, Black Girls Text. BGT has over 90k downloads, with listeners from across the country and abroad. Past episodes have tackled gentrification, pop culture, sex positivity, colorism, and fatherhood in the Black community.
First of all, we think it’s pretty cool that a group chat is the inspiration behind this podcast. We all have group chats with our friends, whether we want to admit it or not. Group chats are a great way to get into quick conversations about something we may see or hear on social media so what better way to expand on the group chat than to do a podcast?
Black Girls Texting is informative and the conversations these three ladies are having will make you want to join in with them. They currently have a total of 195 episodes and the latest one episode 182: Colorism Healing and Destigmatizing Privilege deals with exactly what the title says; colorism.
This week we are honored to be joined by Dr. Sarah Webb of colorism healing, we further unpack what colorism is, its origins, how it is used to continue to marginalize and oppress Black people, specifically the experience for Black women. Our goal is to understand how we can break past cycles of colorism and find solutions to combat colorism in our daily lives.
In case you don’t know what colorism is, it is defined as prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. Colorism is something that happens a lot in the Black community and Black Girls Texting does a great job breaking it all down in this episode. As a person of color who is a lighter shade, I found this conversation to be very enlightening. I know what colorism is, but I definitely have had my own reservations on speaking about the topic because it is so sensitive.
During the episode the ladies talked about how colorism affects everything from getting jobs to dating. They even spoke about how colorism can affect lighter skinned Black people as well. It was a conversation that really made me stop and think about times when I myself experienced colorism. Not to the extent of others, of course, but it was important to hear Dr. Webb acknowledge that colorism can affect more than just dark-skinned women. For instance, she spoke about the fact that even if you’re a lighter shade of Black, you can still be seen as “too Black” because you don’t fit the “Arian ideal” of blonde hair/blue eyes that has been deemed the standard for decades.
It is important to have a conversation like this because colorism is a real thing that’s happening and we need to talk about it. This is honestly a topic everyone should educate themselves on because colorism doesn’t just happen in the Black community. The ladies briefly touch on other races that face colorism in their own cultures and I’m glad they did.
Black Girls Texting podcast has new episodes every week and you can check them out wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Below you can check out episode 182: Colorism Healing & Destigmatizing Privilege