CaShawn Thompson crafted Black Girls Are Magic as a proclamation of Black women’s resilience in 2013. Less than five years later, it had been repurposed as a gateway to an attractive niche market. Branding Black Womanhood: Media Citizenship from Black Power to Black Girl Magic examines the commercial infrastructure that absorbed Thompson’s mantra. While the terminology may have changed over the years, mainstream brands and mass media companies have consistently sought to acknowledge Black women’s possession of a distinct magic or power when it suits their profit agendas.

Beginning with the inception of the Essence brand in the late 1960s, Timeka N. Tounsel examines the individuals and institutions that have reconfigured Black women’s empowerment as a business enterprise. Ultimately, these commercial gatekeepers have constructed an image economy that operates as both a sacred space for Black women and an easy hunting ground for their dollars.

 
 

TIMEKA N. TOUNSEL is an assistant professor of African American studies and media studies at Pennsylvania State University.

Prologue
Introduction: Black Women and the Twenty-First Century Image Economy
Chapter 1: The Black Woman that Essence Built
Chapter 2: Self-Branding Black Womanhood: The Magic of Susan L. Taylor
Chapter 3: Marketing Dignity: The Commercial Grammar of Black Female Empowerment
Chapter 4: Beyond Magic: Black Women Content Creators and Productive Vulnerability
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index