On November 11th, Hair Love author Matthew A. Cherry announced that Blue Ivy Carter, daughter of the legendary Beyonce Knowles-Carter, would be narrating the award-winning children’s book as an audio book. This carries extreme significance not only because the book itself is inspirational to so many little black girls, but also because it is being narrated by a little black girl who has been put on the spot many times in both a positive and negative context in regard to her appearance.
Ms. Blue Ivy has been booked and busy with her iconic appearance in the film Black is King which was released earlier this year. She was portrayed in a powerful light that showed just how amazing black skin can be especially with her performance in Brown Skin Girl. The irony in these intricately timed releasings comes after a time where the 8 year old was heavily judged for her appearance despite only being a child. Jokes about Blue taking after Jay-Z, her father, have exposed the ugly and genuine insensitivity people have especially towards children of people they do not even know.
There was even a time on social media where people were comparing Blue Ivy to Kim Kardashian and Kanye West daughter, North West, in an effort to see who was cuter. Regardless of if she is the child of a celebrity or not, she is still a child and just because she has famous parents who are used to media and gossip, does not mean that people are entitled to talk down to her. Growing up surrounded by such prejudice and out in the open must be hard but the Carter family has handled all judgement with such grace, that we have no choice but to stan.
Blue Ivy especially combats the haters by letting her melanin and personality shine through in everything she participates in and it is inspiring to see a young black girl have so much joy and pride in a world that tries to diminish it from the time we are born. She, the entire Carter family, and the Hair Love book are a refreshing reminder that we need to encourage and uplift our young black girls and they are worth putting the effort in for because if they do not understand their worth, who will?