Tag: Dalijah Franklin

Pole Dancing

Dalijah Franklin of Black Girls Pole Creates an Epic Movement [Video]

Author ByStarr
Photo By David Hawes
Photo By David Hawes

I mentioned a couple of months ago that there was a movement bubbling called “Black Girls Pole,” and that it was spearheaded by one of my pole crushes, Dalijah Franklin. She is super dope. Do yourself a favor and look her up on YouTube. The idea behind Black Girls Pole is to connect Black women who love to pole dance and the people who them and support the idea, to come together, network, and learn from each other in the name of fitness and badassery. But let’s keep it funky, pole dancing isn’t just any kind of fitness, it’s a game changer. For many, self included, pole dancing can change lives but you wouldn’t understand unless you do it (more on that later).

Dalijah celebrated the launch of #BlackGirlsPole back in June at Body and Pole, with a series of workshops that culminated in some dope performances from fierce ladies like, Nicole “the Pole” Williams, Crystal Belcher, Meritza Chang Heyward, Delijah (of course), Ajia Maximillian, Roz “the Diva,” Sasja Lee, Caprice Burrell, and more. I’m still high from the experience. Not only did I meet some cool women with like interests, but I was also motivated to work on the craft again, and I can’t wait to see what else Dalijah has in store. In the mean time, check out what Dalijah told me about her inspiration for starting the movement, some recap footage of that epic night and general inspiration about pole dancing.

Pole Dancing

Grunty Crush of the Week: Black Girls Pole

Author ByStarr

BGPInsert

I stumbled upon #BlackGirlsPole due to some Facebook controversy. Long story short, there was a pole dancer who bitched about why it exists and claimed that it didn’t promote unity and that people would be mad if there was a “White Girls Pole” all that typical entitled bullshit. She created a stir but I later found out that this is what she does in general, so BGP just happened to be that day’s target. I digress.

After that drama, I started to explore the movement and it’s simple. It was founded by Dalijah Franklin, and the point is for anyone who so chooses, to celebrate Black women in pole dancing and to encourage other women to consider pole dancing as well.

I get why this exists and I like the idea of it, especially since Black women are pretty much at the highest risk for everything that’s terrible in the world of health, so I wanted to share it.

You can get involved with the movement via their Facebook page and you can join the hashtag on Instagram.

They have an exciting showcase and workshop coming up on June 21 where there will be some performances a, a Q&A and  workshops. Best believe I got my ticket and I’m ready to go!

Click here for more information about that. Hit me up if you decide to go!