“What might they learn about being Black and female; what might they learn about themselves that might heal them – that might heal other Black females? They too could claim a digital space to tell their stories, for the telling of stories is itself therapy.”

Kirkland (2010), pg. 87

Posting on the internet or on social media is so easy to do with today’s technology, and it’s so common amongst adolescents, we often forget how powerful, artistic, and even therapeutic it can be. In my experience, these posts, in whatever form they appear (selfies, quotes, poems, rants, etc.) are often viewed as superficial, I think due to the simplicity of the action itself. With cell phones or computers, people can easily publish whatever they want whenever they want to a variety of digital platforms, which I believe creates an illusion of superficiality. But what we are really seeing here is various forms of expression. The publicity or facility that technology provides does not make a post any less meaningful, and reading Kirkland’s words reminded me of that. In fact, now that people can make their stories public, they can increase the chances of helping and inspiring others with their words. I believe this can be applied to photographs as well, even though words were the main focus of this chapter.

I admit that I do not use social media very frequently. There are, however, a handful of women that I follow that I find very inspirational. I thought of one in particular while reading this passage; she is a mixed race (Black and White), plus-sized, female that is very open about her past struggles, the oppression she has faced, reclamations of her identity, her healing, and her victories. In fact, she goes by Grace Victory on the internet. Specifically, she embraces that which has made her feel oppressed in the past in the form of artistic expression on social media. She writes poetry and posts photographs of herself as a way of healing past trauma. She recognizes victimization without succumbing to it; she fights back with her posts. She embraces her Blackness, her body, and her womanhood, all of which society has, in some way or another, used to try to shame her or make her feel inadequate. I believe many people (especially women, people of color, people that are mixed race, people that are plus-sized, or any combination of these) could see her posts and relate to her stories. I believe many could find healing and empowerment in her words and pictures, and perhaps even feel inspired to share their own stories.

Quote from:

Kirkland, D.E. (2010). 4 colored girls who considered suicide/when social networking was enuf: A Black feminist perspective on literacy online In D. Alvermann (Ed.), Adolescents’ Online Literacies: Connecting Classrooms, Media, and Paradigms. (pp. 71-90). New York: Peter Lang.