The Nation’s Birthday Party, the VSG Way

VSG-VeryStylishGirl
Jun 30
4 min read

Updated: Jul 1

The party host, seen from the water. Before Ellis Island, before the welcome poem, before the birthday story got polished — we were here.

America is getting ready for another birthday party.

Red, white, and blue.

Fireworks.

Cookouts.

Sales.

Flags.

Family tables.

A little music.

A little memory.

A little complicated truth.

At VSG, we are keeping it light and tight in honor of the party host.

So yes — you are invited to our private party.

The 1619 Party begins July 3 at Very Stylish Girl.

Shop the 1619 PARTY Edit — eligible items $26 and under drop to $16.19

with code 1619PARTY.

And yes, they ship free, because at VSG, freedom is free “shipping.”

https://www.vsg-verystylishgirl.com/category/1619-party The 1619 Party, the VSG way — grown-woman style, plus-size on purpose, freedom ships free.

🎉USA Red, White & Blue energy.

🖤 Red, Black & Green meaning.

❤️ “1619” in Red.

💚 Freedom in Green.

Grown-woman style.

Plus-size on purpose.

Easy pieces,

summer-ready.

But before we cut the cake and pass the watermelon slices — yes, that watermelon — let us tell the truth.

Black women were here before the birthday.

Before America declared itself free, Black women were already living, working, creating, mothering, writing, suing, petitioning, serving, surviving, and making this country answer to words it had not yet learned how to honor.

One documented name is Phillis Wheatley Peters — only one name among untold many. In 1773, her book Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral made her the first person of African descent and only the third colonial American woman to publish a book.

*Phillis Wheatley Peters, 1773. Before America’s birthday, she was already here — writing, witnessing, and creating.*

In 1775, she sent a poem to George Washington. By 1776, the year America was announcing freedom, Phillis Wheatley Peters had already been here — thinking, writing, witnessing, and creating.

And she was not alone.

The lists are small because early America often erased Black women’s names from the record. But the record that remains still speaks.

Elizabeth Key Grinstead sued for her freedom in colonial Virginia and won in 1656, one of the important early court cases that helped shape the law of slavery in seventeenth-century Virginia.

Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mum Bett, sued for her freedom in Massachusetts in 1781. Her case helped begin a wave of freedom suits that contributed to slavery being outlawed in Massachusetts.

Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mum Bett. In 1781, she sued for her freedom in Massachusetts and won.

Belinda Sutton petitioned Massachusetts in 1783 for a pension from the estate of the man who had enslaved her. Her petition is often discussed today as an early argument connected to reparations for slavery.

Belinda Sutton’s petition reminds us: Black women were not silent in the record. They petitioned, demanded, and documented what was owed.

So yes, happy birthday, America.

We are welcome at the party because we helped build the room.

Lady Liberty may say, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

But let us keep the timeline honest.

Kimberly standing inside the Statue of Liberty museum beside a diagram of the statue, with cap text covered by a black heart.

Ellis Island did not open as an immigration station until 1892.The famous Liberty poem became part of the pedestal story later.

So when we say Black women were here before the birthday, we mean that.

Before Ellis Island.

Before the plaque.

Before the welcome poem became part of the national image.

Before America learned how to tell its immigration story, Black women were already inside the American story.

Working.

Writing.

Suing.

Serving.

Surviving.

Creating.

That is not anger.

That is order.

That is fact.

That is memory.

That is truth.

And now, in present day, VSG carries that knowing forward the way we know how: by styling our Plus size sisters one grown woman at a time.

One real Plus size blouse.

One pant that gives drama.

One easy summer piece.

One mirror moment.

One VSG lady at a time.

Because being seen is not just history.

It is today.

And Black women know another truth too.

Feel free to join the fight.

Pick up the pen.

Pick up the case.

Pick up the vote.

Pick up the work.

Pick up your voice.

And get free.

Because freedom has never only been an invitation.

For us, freedom has also been a demand, a lawsuit, a poem, a petition, a uniform, a kitchen table, a church basement, a mother’s prayer, and a woman refusing to disappear.

This is why VSG is calling it the 1619 Party.

Not heavy.

Not bitter.

Not confused.

Not asking permission.

Just clear.

We have been here.

We are still here.

We take up space.

We get seen.

We get heard.

And we are too smart to be quiet.

So this year, we will stop by the party as gracious invited guests.

We will wear something fierce.

We will bring good manners.

We may even have a cold one.

But we are heading home early for a nightcap.

We are not staying late this time to be part of the after-party cleanup crew.

No — enjoy.

Because some of us are tired in ways a slogan cannot hold.

Some of us come from families where service was not a talking point. It was bloodline, duty, survival, and sacrifice.

In my own family, as the story has been carried, a member of my direct bloodline was present in every war known to the United States — up until Afghanistan.

We are exhausted.

Still, we celebrate.

But we also remember.

And at VSG, remembering is not heavy for heavy’s sake.

Remembering is style with a spine.

Beauty with receipts.

A grown woman walking into July fully aware that freedom was never simply handed over.

It was worked for.

It was fought for.

It was written for.

It was sued for.

It was prayed over.