#BlackGirlMagic

I couldn't tell you how many times I've been told that we are living in a post-racial society. Nor could I tell you how many times I've been told that the millennials live in a color-blind society. And while I never quite believed either of those, even I had fooled myself into thinking that we had grown by leaps and bounds. Then, Sunday night happened.

If we had grown by these proverbial leaps and bounds, how could it be that on Sunday night, I --- a millennial --- could find tears welled up in my eyes as Viola Davis walked toward the stage to accept an Emmy for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Drama?

Why would Viola, with her chocolate skin and natural hair, part her flawless red lips to speak the words of the great Harriet Tubman?

‘In my mind, I see a line. And over that line, I see green fields and lovely flowers and beautiful white women with their arms stretched out to me, over that line. But I can’t seem to get there no how. I can’t seem to get over that line.’

And it was at that moment, I found my answer.

I realized -- truly realized -- how far we have come and how far we still have to go. It dawned on me that Viola repeated Harriet's powerful words of struggle and inequality because, unfortunately, they are still relevant enough to resonate with a millennial like me, in this self-proclaimed post-racial society.

On one hand, I cringe to think that a twenty-five year old woman, like me, who reaped the benefits of the Civil Rights Movement, could still be in awe that somebody with brown skin and natural hair could be named the very best among that group of women that Harriet could never seem to reach. Yet on the other hand, tears welled up in my eyes because it made my heart smile to think that my baby girl might actually grow up in a world where Viola is who ALL girls, black or white, will aspire to be.

I'll still shake my head, and feel my blood pressure rise when I hear the terms "post-racial" and "color-blind", but I can admit that the #BlackGirlMagic I witnessed on Sunday night was a great step in the right direction.

"Thank you, Viola, for redefining what it means to be beautiful, to be sexy, to be a leading woman, to be black."