While Morgan Pitts was still blogging, she shared a tweet that included #BlackGirlsWhoBlog (“BGWB”) in it and found herself surprised at how quickly others expressed interest in it. Although it has been around for the past 3 years, BGWB still serves as a refreshing source of inspiration for black women bloggers. Morgan and I had the chance to discuss BGWB a little more, reminiscing about its conception, as well as how she maintains her sense of balance in her other endeavors. Be sure to keep reading.
Nai’s Visions: You’ve had the opportunity to be featured on several online publications such as Essence Magainze and Man Repeller where you shared an in-depth look into the BGWB brand, if I’m allowed to call it that. Did you ever expect for it to gain as much recognition as it has?
Morgan: It definitely came as surprise. I had zero expectations. I don’t feel like a lot of people expect that; me having zero expectations and it’s gotten to this point. Literally everything has come as a surprise, not only the massive growth but the attention as well. I’m glad I’m able to talk with someone who saw the beginning of BGWB. It gets to be a lot when you’re asked repetitive questions so it’s refreshing to talk to someone who has been supportive of BGWB since day one.
What has been the most rewarding aspect of creating an online community geared towards black women?
The most rewarding thing has been seeing women be able to connect with each other and foster their own relationships. It’s invaluable and priceless. For something that started off as a tweet, it’s nothing more rewarding than to provide women with that bond. I’m very proud of BGWB for featuring women who don’t have thousands of followers or may have just started their blog. It’s about community building and connection building. Another rewarding thing is seeing anything that’s progressed a black women blogger or that everyday girl who has a blog for a hobby, who does it because she loves it and isn’t necessarily looking for a profit.
This year I’d love to be able to provide concrete opportunities for black women bloggers.
I think it goes back to why black people in general haven’t had the same opportunities or recognition as our counterparts. It’s like the Hidden Figures movie. Here we have incredible black women who contributed to history and we weren’t taught about that prior to this. I never heard of these women growing up. Papa Pope [from Scandal] said it best. “We have to be twice as good to get half as much. Black people were stripped of our rights and our culture. We were treated as nothing more than property but somehow we still managed to overcome, to keep going. We’re resilient. It just goes back to being oppressed. Eurocentric beauty has been the standard and they’ve simply been afforded the same opportunities we were stripped of.
It’s race relations and the overall socioeconomic of life.
That’s a good question! Partially we’ll never know and partially we have to look at the history of a brand being diverse. Time will only tell. We never know if it’s a quota being met, white guilt or if brands are simply profiting from it. If it’s consistent then that speaks for itself. We have to look at what kind of claims a brand or publication is making. Are they giving us the opportunity to tell our own story or are they telling it for us? How does their employment history look and how do they treat their employees? Eventually it will come out.
I don’t do things I don’t want to do. If it’s not a special occasion like a birthday dinner for a friend then I’m not going if I don’t want to. I am an introvert and a homebody. Unless I’m not at work or going to an event, I’m at home and I’m in bed. I relax as much as I can.
My room is my sanctuary. I don’t feel obligated to party or go clubbing. I don’t feel the need to always say yes. When I’m not working, I try my best to chill hard besides my responsibilities.
If you were given the opportunity to have a round table discussion with 3 people in the fashion industry, who would they be?
1. Eva Chen. She is a wife, a mother of two, former Editor-in-Chief of Lucky Magazine, and now she is the head of fashion at Instagram. I would want to pick her brain about her journey and how she balances being a wife and mother and how she’s able to do it and be it all. Learning about her having a bombshell career and still having time to be a present mother to a two year and a newborn + a present wife to her husband. Asking her how she finds time to be present for herself as well. I want to know if she feel she’s reached her dream position and what she wants to do in the future. I’d also like to know how she feels about being an Asian minority in the industry.
2. Pharrell, I’ve loved him since I’ve known him. My boyfriend actually reminds me of him a lot. We know him as a music artist and now he’s a brand ambassador for Chanel. He’s worked on Billionaire Boys Club and collaborated with Adidas over the years. Now he’s designing his own jeans. He’s always had an eccentric style and I would want to ask him about his journey and if it was intentional. I’d like to know has he always been a lover of high fashion or just bought whatever he wanted? Did he ever see himself working for Chanel or did it fall into his lap? I’d like to know what else he would want to do in the future; if he wants to have his own collection like rapper Kanye has his Yeezy collection.
3. Lastly, June Ambrose. Her career has been crazy from styling the most iconic hip hop music videos to styling Jay-Z and the Belly movie. I feel like she’s not a household name and I’d like to ask her how that makes her feel. People are familiar with her work but not the name attached to it. Being married with two kids and living in NY. Being on the move. Although she shows off her kids on Instagram, she keeps her marriage very private and I’d want to ask her if it’s strategic or why she does it. And her balance; how does she maintain it? What does her success and family mean to her?
Morgan Pitts’ IG: @cosmorgpolitan
Black Girls Who Blog IG: @blackgirlswhoblog
