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Abstract
This study was grounded in the urgent need to understand and disrupt the alarming rise in anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among Black girls. Although Black girls comprise 13% of the U.S. teen population, they account for 30% of suicide deaths among teens. According to the CDC (2023), 94,000 Black girls have attempted suicide since 2017, with the highest concentration in the southern United States. These troubling statistics are closely linked to intersecting experiences of racial and gender discrimination. It was hypothesized that the internalization of negative stereotypes perpetuated through media contributes to diminished self-worth, which in turn heightens vulnerability to emotional distress and mental health crises. This underscores the critical need to empirically examine culturally relevant factors that promote the externalization of these harmful messages and foster self-definition, resistance, and liberation, key components in the healthy identity development and psychological well-being of Black girls. Using a cross-sectional design, this study employed two three-block hierarchical multiple regression analyses with a sample of 137 Black girls aged 11–17. The study explored the predictive power of critical consciousness, racial-ethnic identity, and perceived social support on rewards and costs to self-esteem, above and beyond internalized stereotypes, media pressures, and racialized gender microaggressions, within the framework of Black Feminist Thought (BFT). The results demonstrated that these culturally grounded variables explained 33% of the variance in rewards distributed to self and 26% in costs distributed to self, highlighting both the enhancement of self-worth and reduction of self-blame and internalized oppression. These findings affirm BFT’s relevance in empowering Black girls and countering negative stereotypical messaging. Self-esteem among Black girls is not inherent or individually determined but shaped by socio-cultural and structural forces. This research challenges deficit-based narratives that portray Black girls as problems to be fixed and instead centers them as powerful agents navigating dehumanizing systems. Ultimately, the study affirms that Black girls’ self-esteem is not a luxury but a necessity for survival, academic persistence, emotional well-being, and liberatory decision-making.