Rochelle Ritchie, Christelyn Karazin & Cynthia G: Case in point examples of the Curse of the Eternal Seven!

“You’re average at best…”
-Kevin Samuels

Earlier this month, image consultant, social media personality and newly minted “Black Love” expert “Saint Kevin” Samuels hosted one of the first of his Clubhouse chats with a selected number of guests; among them was Chicago-area based news media personality Rochelle Ritchie, who was keen to give Mr. Samuels a piece of her mind in the wake of the “You’re Average at Best” controversy that made Samuels a household name. After a heated and contentious exchange between Samuels and Ritchie, with the latter demanding to know why the former didn’t apologize to the “average at best” lady at the center of the social media controversy, and reminding Samuels that she worked in the media herself, she was unceremoniously booted out of the chat by Samuels for exhibiting the very same kinds of rude behavior that the “average at best” caller to his show displayed in the first place.

One wonders why Ritchie, an admittedly attractive and successful Black woman, looks completely out of joint in a discussion concerning a Black woman who is clearly not on her level on either account, and why she was going so hard in the paint for her? The answer to these and many other questions, lies in the fact that Ritchie is what Samuels refers to as an “Eternal Seven” – and before I go any further, I want to make it abundantly clear that the concept upon which I write today is Samuels’ and his alone; what I am doing is putting down in written form what that is, and then expanding on it a bit to add my own thoughts and observations.

So, with that being said, what, exactly, is an “Eternal Seven” – and why do I call it a curse? Read on!

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BLACK AMERICA’S BEAUTY DEFICIT
Before we answer today’s burning question, we have to appreciate the fact that one of the biggest – pardon the pun – problems that bedevils “Black Love” in our time is the unsightly fact that Black women are, as a group, the fattest people in America. The average Black woman stands at 5’4″, weighs upwards of 200 lbs. and wears an average dress size of 18(!). Nor is this something that is relegated to a particular age or social cohort – it’s a phenomenon that has been documented from Oprah and Stacey Abrams themselves on down to young Black women in the hood and everywhere in between (Gabby Sibide’s “Precious” comes to mind), as numerous news articles over the years easily bears out (“Obesity among Black women outrageously high“, The Atlanta Voice, Nov 15, 2019; “80% of black women are overweight” CNN/Chris Lawrence, YouTube, Oct 16, 2013; “Black Women and Fat“, New York Times, May 5, 2012; “At Spelman College, a program tackles tough issues of weight, health and self-image“, Washington Post, May 2, 2013). According to the venerable online resource BlackDemographics.com, some 55% of Black women aged 20 or over are obese, with Hispanic women not far behind at 51% (“Obesity in Black America” section).

In his work as an image consultant, Samuels observes that more often than not the Black women who come to him for advice and counsel invariably asks for his take on affairs of the heart; and he is often pressed to tell them the truth: That successful Black men are not likely to want to “put a ring” on a seriously heavyset woman. Samuels takes things a step further in noting that over the years, as Black women’s dress sizes have grown, Black men’s marriage proposals have shrunk. As far as I know, no scientific study has been conducted that specifically examines Samuels’ observation in Black America; but we DO have scientific evidence that bears out the generality of the observation – fatter women have fewer marital prospects (“WOMEN PAY PRICE FOR BEING OBESE“, New York Times, Sep 30, 1993).

With so many Black women being so heavy across the Black American socioeconomic spectrum, there is a very real beauty deficit at work in contemporary Black America that seems to contribute to an ever-growing divide between Black men and women, and there seems to be enough evidence to support Samuels’ contention that the bigger Black women get overall and in the aggregate, the fewer Black men are willing to go down on one knee to propose. This is where the “Eternal Seven” comes in.

But not exactly how you’d think…

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PROFILE OF “THE ETERNAL SEVEN”
While the rank and file Black woman across Black America is at best “pleasingly plump”, the Eternal Seven is very easy to spot. Although she can be seen everywhere in terms of social class in Black American life, for purposes of today’s discussion we will focus on those most likely to be spotted in the lower middle to solidly middle class of Black Americans.

The Eternal Seven is, first and foremost and almost without exception, svelte, trim and physically fit – at least in terms of appearance, and her facial looks often compliment her streamlined figure. Many often do some form of regular exercise and make attempts to varying degrees of eating right and so forth as well. As her moniker suggests, she is “above average” in terms of looks – “cute”, maybe even “pretty” – but not outright gorgeous. That’s reserved for the 8s, 9s and 10s of the world – and she knows it.

But the Eternal Seven knows that she either edges out or completely annilhilates the rest of the competition among her lower ranked sisters, and she uses this to her full advantage in pretty much all areas of her life, especially when it comes to dealings with most Black men (more on this below) – who, as it has been already discussed, rarely come across a “7” in their day to day lives.

Eternal Sevens have the enviable privilege of being “universal” (or universal enough) looking to appeal to a large swath of American life, both socially, professionally and in some cases, romantically as well; as such, they tend to work in fields that can afford them a degree of social interaction and even advancement that their more “ethnic” looking sisters either do so only with a good degree of difficulty, or not at all.

Therefore, Eternal Sevens almost always tend to attend college and university, and tend to work in fields like communications, media, law, or government, be that local, state or federal. They can be observed working in fields associated with psychology, healthcare and finance as well – often in “face” positions of some kind. Often, they work as glorified “admins”, junior partners and middle management at most.

They tend to like the camera (being in front of it, that is) and are often social media butterflies, making prodigious use of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and in some cases YouTube (I put it that way because YouTube in particular has been noted for being a predominantly White, young and male platform in the main) – again, using their “seveness” to give them a oneupsmanship among their sisters out on these internet streets. This is particularly true among those Eternal Sevens who are “creatives” – those who work as photographers, social media professionals, graphic artists, or in one way or another makeup the entertainment business economy – always on the penumbra of the action, but never quite in the thick of it.

And, Eternal Sevens tend to earn well for themselves – far above the national average salary of about $37K USD a year, according to BlackDemographics.com – and also tend to be in the social orbit of the “Masters of the Universe” Black men – the movers, shakers and kingmakers of Black America. In fact, they’re so close to such High Value Black Men, that they can reach out and touch them, know many of them on a first name basis, and so on – and yet, they are so very, very far away.

Why is that?

Well, the single biggest reason and easiest answer is, while the Eternal Seven is indeed attractive, she’s not THAT attractive; while the Eternal Seven is “smarter than the average bear”, she’s not THAT smart (proofed by the fact that Eternal Sevens rarely attend top-seeded/top-ranked colleges; at best, they’re in the mid-tier and in many instances, they’re low-seeded schools – if they rank at all); and, perhaps most important of all, she thinks she’s ALL THAT, when in truth, she’s just “above average”.

For when you’re in the rarified group of “Masters of the Universe” guys, why settle for “above average” when you can get a metaphysical goddess – right?

THIS, then, is the “Curse of the Eternal Seven” – to know, deep down, that while you’re hotter and smarter than most Black women – especially in our bloated time today – you’re simply not hot and in some cases, smart/good enough, to snag Mr. Master of the Universe.

And that makes the Eternal Sevens MAD.

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WHY “THE ETERNAL SEVEN” IS THE NON-SELECT GUY’S THIRST TRAP
This brings me to why Eternal Sevens are a concern for the Non-Select Guy in our time today – because if the latter isn’t careful, he may fall prey to the machinations of the former.

You see, for many Eternal Sevens, they know that they will NEVER get the topmost Black men – not today, not no day – and so they seethe in impotent rage over that fact. And they take it out on “lesser” Black men, real or perceived.

Now, to be sure, “non-select” and “lesser” are two completely different things – OUTSIDE of Black America – as I’ve recently proven (“Can A Non-Select Guy Be A High-Value Man?“, Negromanosphere.com, Sep 14, 2020). But we’re dealing with Black women here – and as Black women have repeatedly proven, in their eyes, the “Ideal Black Man” has to be hitting on ALL cylinders – and “the look” is a dealbreaker, even if you’re number one with a bullet in everything else, as Christelyn Karazin herself makes plain in her 2012 book, “Swirling: How to Date, Mate & Relate, Mixing Race, Color & Creed“:

“The big inkblot on your list might be your desire for an IBM – the Ideal Black Man. Individual preferences may vary, but usually, the “IBM” is more than six feet tall, devilishly handsome, optimally went to an Ivy-Leage school, and makes a kazillion dollars a year. He loves his mama, who raised him alone and sent him to college with all the quarters she saved from the moment he was born. Sound about right? I’ll admit it – he does sound good. And if you’re an IBW (“Ideal Black Woman”), you surely deserve an IBM. After all, every great man should want an equally great counterpart, right?” (pp. 68-69)

Karazin is fitting for today’s discussion, because in many ways, she herself qualifies as an Eternal Seven. She’s above average looking for a Black woman in our time today – and certainly much more so than the vast majority of the rank file students in her “Pink Pill” courses; she attended Loyola Marymount University, which according to US News & World Report college rankings, comes in at #66 with a degree in communications. For the past decade, her crusade to get Black women to “open up/expand their dating options” has barely budged; as of the past weekend, she states herself that since the time her book was published – eight years ago – the number of Black women marrying White or otherwise non-Black men has only increased three percentage points(!) – barely statistically significant (“Two, Three Decades Later, Have Black Women Changed Their Minds About Interracial Dating?“, YouTube, Dec 27, 2020). And, according to the website SocialBlade, she’s been on YouTube for 11 years, has only now crossed the 90K subscriber threshold, and has an overall channel rating of “B-“.

Like I said, “above average” – NOT “all that” – and definitely not a contender for an “IBM”.

This has certainly been the case for Karazin, who was instantly smitten with Samuels and called into his wildly popular YouTube show to that effect, earlier this summer; but she couldn’t close the deal. She’s been bitterly crying sour grapes and cursing Samuels’ name eversince – who has gone on to garner an order of magnitude more subscribers, has gone viral at least four times this year alone, and makes a ton of ad revenue from YouTube alone over Karazin – only further emphasizing the point. Karazin, and other Eternal Sevens like her, may think whatever they like about themselves; but the cold, hard reality of their lives, says something else.

That brings me to the Non-Select Guys, who are often dumped on by the Eternal Sevens, in part for the reasons enunciated above, but also for another deeply profound reason: Because the NSGs are truly reflective of the level of these ladies – and they are PISSED about it.

As a general rule, the Non-Select Guys of Black America are the “middle men” when it comes to the dating and mating market – and have you noticed that they are completely absent by the Black female-driven, multi-decades discourse on “Black Love” matters? This is not by accident, due precisely to today’s topic: Black women like Karazin – the Eternal Sevens – tend to be among “the loudest voices in the room” – and as far as they’re concerned, there really only exists two types of Black men: the “IBMs” that Eternal Sevens like Karazin swoon over; and the proverbial “Pookie & Ray-Ray’s”, which is to say, the out and out losers of Black American men. Non-Select Guys tend to be self-made men, usually in some form of business and commerce; they are the solid middle class of white collar professional workers; and of course, they are the bulwark of the Black male labor market, in the blue collar skilled trades. Despite the fact that the NSGs make a far sight more than the average Black man – and more often than not Eternal Sevens themselves – Eternal Sevens like Karazin honestly believe that they are inherently “better” than the Non-Select Guys – and this accounts for the latter’s conspicuous absence from the former’s multi-decades harangues.

Non-Select Guys do themselves no favors by attempting to curry favor with Eternal Sevens, who hold you in open contempt. As Abraham Lincoln once famously said: “Better to be alone, than to keep bad company”.

Facts.

Now adjourn your asses…

MOA

Mumia Obsidian Ali is a citizen journalist, podcaster, talk radio show host, newly minted dating coach and soon to be author. You can catch his daily live shows on the global livestreaming radio website Mixlr, as well as the all-new members-only Obsidian Radio Zoomcast, and his podcasts on YouTube and Black Avenger TV, as well as his weekly dating coach column at the Negromanosphere website. He’s also a semi-professional pest.