Last night, the inaugural BET Social Awards took place. It's no secret that black people make social media what it is, and without us, it just wouldn't be the same. That made the awards the perfect environment for Amanda Seales to perform her original "#Black Girl Magic" poem. 

"First of all
We make this look easy 
Us black girls with all kindsa curls
Smellin a cocoa butter 
Out here every damn day savin the world.

Time and time again
We find the ways and means
Between packing lunches, planning launches, and *act out* patting weaves
To get information
And stay in FORMATION,
“Girl you heard what they’re sayin?”
“Ain’t no games to be playin”.

So we show up
And show out
And Turn up
And, “turn this motha out”
And flip it
And Yasssss biiihhhh
Throw sideyes
Gather 
Get folks all the way together
With edges still in place
Skin defying time and space
They call it magic cuz ain’t no way to explain our *sing* “amazing grace”

How sweet the sound 
Of a black girl’s point of a view
Knowing that nobody does it like we do, boo
Pride in our power 
Strength in our strides
You can attempt to imitate
But soul you cannot buy.

We work twice as hard
And must be twice as perfect,
Purveyors of potent truths
We deliver in small doses
Cuz folks is, shook when she’s movin
“OH NO, IT’S ANOTHER ANGRY BLACK WOMAN!”
Bump that
We’re not hostile, 
We’re passionate;
Clappin back is our way of declaring (claps) we aint havin it
They go low, we go high
They say no, we defy
They didn’t want us to read 
Kept us out of libraries they built
Now we are the biggest buyers of books 
So, we can read you for filth!!! Our magic is in our love and tears
Our fears and our flyness
Our sistahoods and insecurities
Our ride or, don’t even try it.
We are not the one,
And still we rise,
This is for colored girls who’ve considered gettin your life and are
RECLAIMING OUR TIME"

Seales took the show with her words, and those of us watching from home were just as enthralled. 

Amazing job, Amanda! You got us all feeling ourselves today. The real black girl magic of it all is that she wrote the poem in one day. 

Photo: Giphy

Amanda SealesBET social awardsBLACK GIRL MAGICBlack History MOnth