In this series, we are celebrating the uniqueness of three local Black women as a way to dismantle the stereotypical myth that Black women are a monolith—that we all fit within one box. As a Black woman myself, I believe it’s important to shine a light on the range within Black girl magic to inspire us to be ourselves. We have varying passions and aspirations that shape who we are and how we want to be seen in the world.
Aiesha Little—Senior Editor at Cincinnati Magazine—is a member of the multicultural steampunk group Airship Ashanti. While writing a story on the different types of cosplay in 2012, she attended a steampunk salon and has been hooked ever since. Aiesha recently talked to me about being unapologetically herself, balancing her work-life, and her advice to Black women on how to do the same.
With over twenty-five years in your career, what has surprised you the most?
Part of editing is learning how to work with your writers to enhance what they’re trying to get across and that requires you to have good communication with them. You’re both coming to the table with the understanding that the editor is just trying to help the writer make the story better.
How do all the isms and phobias in the cosplay community influence how you show up unapologetically Black?
I try to maintain a very strict work-life balance that allows me to be who I am with my friends. Within those geeky spaces, you can’t stop me from being who I am authentically because it’s just something that I do for fun. If there is someone in that space trying to be racist, sexist, homophobic, fatphobic, or what have you, I can remove myself from that space immediately. The people that I’m friends with will also remove themselves from that space because they’ve got my back. I think it’s very important to go into those spaces and have people surrounding you who are all on the same page with. You have to be able to say here are the things that I will not tolerate.
Do you have advice for Black women on how to be grounded in themselves?
I would say to be mindful of how hard you’re working. I think many of us are raised on the idea that you must be twice as good to get half the bar. But that means you’re working yourself very hard. I am no longer living up to other people’s expectations and ideas of who I am supposed to be. I only have my expectations and ideas of who I am supposed to be to live up to. I would tell younger women that it’s okay, it’s okay to just not do any of this. As long as you are comfortable with it, you’re good. Everyone else will just have to deal.
What are your thoughts on how society tries to fit Black women all in one box?
Society tries to pit us against one another. We don’t want to be pitted against other Black women because they’re doing something that we’re all doing in order to survive the system. I think of it this way: your brain is a tea bag and white supremacy is hot water so your brain is constantly being steeped in hot water and eventually, it’s going to make you bitter—it’s going to make you hate yourself. And I stopped hating myself a long time ago. I’m gonna wear my costumes. I’m gonna have my fun. I’m gonna be myself as authentically as I can be in whatever space that I am in, and if I can’t do that then I’m gonna leave that space.
How do you celebrate yourself?
Celebrating myself looks different from day to day. Celebrating myself can be putting on my favorite outfit because I don’t care how it looks to other people, so I’m gonna strut. Speaking of that, dressing in costumes has helped me be more confident when wearing regular clothes because you must be comfortable with yourself when in a costume. People will stare at you and take pictures. You can’t shrink when you’re dressed as Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Myself and two other members of Airship Ashanti will be on UC campus on February 24th [in TUC 2-4 pm] as a part of Black Futures Month. May 11th is Airship Ashanti’s Black Fae Day, which will be at Mt. Airy Arboretum.
For more information about Black Futures Month go here.
For more information about Airship Ashanti and their upcoming events go here.