This High School Dance Team's Uniforms Are Snatching Edges & The Internet Can't Take It
Three snaps in the air are in order for the Florida high school dance team that went viral for the way they snatch edges in the dancing game!
Last month, the Golden Girls dance squad of the Miami Northwestern Senior High School had the Internet shook with the blue and black costumes the young ladies adorned while on the sidelines of a football game.
While I saw young black women strutting with pride, heads thrown back, and invisible crowns held high as they made their entrance, others saw the need to offer their critique of what they deemed “inappropriate” and viewed as young girls wearing lingerie. The dance team quickly went viral with everyone offering an opinion, with comments that ranged from "These girls look like strippers," to "This is disgusting, I'm done." A father also offered his take saying, "Women don't see a problem with this but men with daughters do. Guaranteed none of these girls have a father in their lives."
This week, the principal of the high school, Wallace Arisitde, issued a statement to the public, explaining that the parents of every girl on the dance team gave approval for the costumes the young ladies wear:
“Miami Northwestern Senior High School has always been a source of pride for students, parents, alumni and the community. We will continue that tradition. While all the parents of the dancers who participated in the event approved of the attire, we understand the concerns that have been raised and sincerely apologize for any offense this may have caused. Looking ahead, we will implement a more comprehensive and stringent uniform approval process to ensure an appropriate representation of our school.”
Unfortunately, the sexualization of black women has always been a cause for concern in the black community.
At the age of 8, little girls are told to stop being so “fast” when they walk into a room with their nightgown on while a male guest over the age of 30 is in the house. At 14, the shorts she is wearing because of the hips she is beginning to develop make her look easy, despite the fact that her peers might wear the same attire with no qualms at all. At 28, she could be fully clothed and still cat-called and called out of her name, just because.
The double standard runs deep.
Meanwhile, the dance team’s director and former Miami Heat dancer Traci Young-Byron, became privy to the heat and fired back at disparagements, shedding light on the fact that sexualization of women tends to be something only black young ladies are subjected to. The former dancer even noted the importance of wearing costumes that allow dancers to move without restriction.
Although the principal mentioned a more comprehensive uniform approval process in his statement, Young-Byron brought even more sass to their outfits this week. The Golden Girls were spotted entering the stadium entrance in shoulder wings, cage skirts, and neon pink ponytails, which had heads turning once again during Game 4.
YAS!
Yasss!
Yasssssssss!
There’s no better way to make a statement about how you won’t succumb to patriarchy and misogynoir than to make an entrance that screams busy and unbothered. Real Queens move in silence and allow their success to be their noise.
Keep slaying young Queens!
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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You've Never Seen Luke James In A Role Quite Like This
Over the years, we've watched Luke James play countless characters we'd deem sex symbols, movie stars, and even his complicated character in Lena Waithe's The Chi. For the first time in his career, the New Orleans-born actor has taken on a role where his signature good looks take a backseat as he transforms into Edmund in Them: The Scare—a mentally deranged character in the second installment of the horror anthology series that you won't be able to take your eyes off.
Trust us, Edmund will literally make you do a double take.
xoNecole sat down with Luke James to talk about his latest series and all the complexity surrounding it—from the challenges taking on this out-of-the-box role to the show's depiction of the perplexing history of the relationship between Black Americans and police. When describing the opportunity to bring Edmund's character to life, Luke was overjoyed to show the audience yet another level of his masterful acting talents.
"It was like bathing in the sun," he said. "I was like, thank you! Another opportunity for me to be great—for me to expand my territory. I'm just elated to be a part of it and to see myself in a different light, something I didn't think I could do." He continued, "There are parts of you that says, 'Go for it because this is what you do.' But then also that's why it's a challenge because you're like, 'um, I don't know if I'm as free as I need to be to be able to do this.' Little Marvin just created such a safe space for me to be able to do this, and I'm grateful for everything I've been able to do to lead to this."
Courtesy
Them: The Scare, like the first season, shines a light on the plight of Black Americans in the United States. This time, the story is taking place in the 1990s, at the height of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. While the series presents many underlying themes, one that stands out is Black people and the complicated relationship with the police. "For the audience, I think it sets the tone for the era that we're in and the amount of chaos that's in the air in Los Angeles and around the country from this heinous incident. And I say it just sets the tone of the anxiety and anxiousness that everybody is feeling in their own households."
James has been a longtime advocate against police brutality himself. He has even featured Elijah McClain, the 23-year-old Colorado man who died after being forcibly detained by officers, as his Instagram avatar for the past five years. So, as you can imagine, this script was close to his heart. "Elijah was a soft-loving oddball. Different than anyone but loving and a musical genius. He was just open and wanted to be loved and seen."
Getty Images
Luke continued, "His life was taken from him. I resonate with his spirit and his words...through all the struggle and the pain he still found it in him to say, 'I love you and I forgive you.' And that's who we are as people—to our own detriment sometimes. He's someone I don't want people to forget. I have yet to remove his face from my world because I have yet to let go of his voice, let go of that being [because] there's so many people we have lost in our history that so often get forgotten."
He concluded, "I think that's the importance of such artwork that moves us to think and talk about it. Yes, it's entertaining. We get to come together and be spooked together. But then we come together and we think, 'Damn, Edmund needed someone to talk to. Edmund needed help... a lot [of] things could have been different. Edmund could have been saved.'
Check out the full interview below.
Luke James Talks Ditching Sex Symbol Status For "Them: The Scare", Elijah McClain, & Morewww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty Images