Letter

‘Let Black Girls Be Girls’ raises awareness of the adultification bias of Black British girls
‘Let Black Girls Be Girls’ raises awareness of the adultification bias of Black British girls

03/09/2024

UK creatives Eboni Lamine and Martha Omasoro, have partnered with Getty Images, a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace, and BUILDHOLLYWOOD to launch ‘Let Black Girls Be Girls’. It is a first-of-its-kind social impact campaign that, by pulling out language, prejudices and behaviours of parents, teachers and general society from the perspective of young Black girls, aims to raise awareness of adultification bias here in the UK.

Displayed across billboards throughout London, Birmingham, Manchester & Bristol, the campaign juxtaposes said bias with positive portrayals of Black girlhood that highlight the innocence and vulnerability Black girls are usually not afforded and the widespread misrepresentation of Black girls within the media. The campaign enlisted Black British female photographers Aicha Thomas and Jade Reynolds-Hemmings to transform the perception of Black British girlhood through visual storytelling.

Creators Eboni Lamine and Martha Omasoro commented on the project, saying: “Adultification Bias occurs when adults perceive children from ethnic minority backgrounds as being older or more mature than they are. It is a systemic issue that is unfortunately an inherent part of the Black British and global experiences. With Let Black Girls Be Girls, our goal is to create a campaign that educates society on the deep-rooted impact of Adultification Bias on Black girls and afford every Black girl the innocence and vulnerability of childhood, not marred by race”.

Akua Gyamfi, proud mother of one, and the creator of Your Aunties Could Never podcast, said: “My need to protect my young Black daughter from being adultified by people who are charged in helping to shape her future kicked in when she started school. Having teachers who saw her as ‘just another angry black girl’, who harshly punished her for expected childish mistakes whilst her non black counterparts were treated with grace, care and patience turned me into the ultimate tiger mum. Not my child! I was forced to show up for her so she knew, and her teachers knew that she deserved better.”

Lamine and Omasoro are spearheading the campaign with support from BUILDHOLLYWOOD and Getty Images, who have created the Black Girls in Britain Visual Guidelines to help media, agencies and brands to choose and create visuals that accurately represent Black British identities such as ethnicity, religion, region, body types and age.


Read more about the partnership here.