#protect black girls
Choose to Challenge Ableism
As International Women’s Day approaches, I’ve been thinking about this year’s theme #ChooseToChallenge, and what I can do to make a difference.
I’m extremely passionate about raising awareness on the invisible barriers people from marginalised groups face in the corporate world, however, I’ve never explored the intersections of disability and identity formation in the workplace (or wider society).
Please read, comment and share my article. Hopefully, you’ll be inspired to create a working environment that supports colleagues with disabilities, physical or mental health conditions as opposed to one that inadvertently leaves many feeling excluded.
Be kind to yourself and others!
Author@iameriwa
Model @marshaellemusic
iHeartOG is not Ugly our ideology of Beauty is
I’m disappointed with the negative and dehumanising discourse sounding the “attractiveness” of Ogom Chijindu aka Og, the Nigerian-American reality television personality who appears on Basketball Wives LA.
Please let’s do our best to speak with compassion and understanding, particularly, when it concerns black dark skin women with distinct Afrocentric phenotypes.
The notion that featurismim isn’t real is undermining Og’s (and many other women who look like her) lived experience.
We must acknowledge that, like its ugly cousin RACISM, colourism, featurismim and texturism are all deeply ingrained within our psyche due to the success of White Supremacy.
If featurismim isn’t a thing then why is rhinoplasty surgery so popular among black and brown people? Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Halle Berry and other black female celebrities have surgically alerted their “Afrocentric phenotypes” because anything that has close proximity to whiteness is deemed more attractive.
Unfortunately, European colonizers have successfully engraved their standard of beauty in our minds, that we also succumb to their destructive ideologies by changing the texture of our hair ( or wearing straighter no Afrocentric weaves), lightening our skin complexion, and undergoing invasive (and no intrusive) surgery to alter our distinct African negroid features.
The whole premise of “Pretty for a Dark-skin Girl” is rooted in colourism and featurismim. As the said black girl/woman is deemed attractive because she doesn’t aesthetically look “too African” or “too Black” i.e. she doesn’t have a wide nose, a big pertruding mouth with thick lips, large eyes, basically features that are typically considered “animalistic” or “ugly”.
The gag is, our entire understanding of facial symmetry and perception of beauty was created by old white male biologists/scientists. Therefore, it isn’t surprising that our preferences for lighter skin, softer and slimmer facial features are running rampant in the Black and Brown countries white Europeans colonised ♀️
Let’s re-educate ourselves so we can teach our children that beauty is nuanced, multifaceted, diverse, but more importantly, beauty is skin deep.
Author - @iameriwa
Model - @iheartog
Representation Matters
Unfortunately, our hair has a long history of being politicised and stigmatised in society. However, now more than ever, Black women should feel empowered to wear our natural kinky curly hair in corporate/professional settings with pride.
The more we do, slowly but surely, our tight curls will no longer be considered as “unprofessional”. Furthermore, employers cannot discriminate against an employee wearing an afro, because that’s discrimination against our natural state!
Something we cannot control, no matter how much we attempt to “tame” it with harmful chemicals, it will continue to grow kinky curly.
Black queens, please remember that young Black girls are looking at us to set the example, so lets all do our best to rock our gorgeous gravity defying hair with pride ❤️✊
Author - @iameriwa
Photographed by @b.gray.pixels
Make up by @naphsie_mua
Styled by @alwoman_
Some guy commissioned me to design some murals for the Black Lives Matter Movement, last summer. He never got back to me, but I still wanted to present these to the public. :)
Reminder: You deserve to feel mentally, physically, & emotionally safe. ✨✨✨
To all my Black girls out there, please know that you are loved and that you do not always have to show up for others, especially in a society that doesn’t always show up for you.
Black women deserve to be taken care of vs always being the caretakers.
Read that again.
Love the support behind this post!
This is a post about emotional and physical safety. There are different forms of caretaking - emotional, physical, etc. This isn’t a post about literally being taken care of, however, there’s nothing wrong if this post resignated with you in that way. In our culture, Black women have always been the matriarchs, and with that, our health, safety, and needs fall to the side. Many have seen this with their grandmothers, mothers, sisters, themselves, etc. It is the norm for many.
Black women are also seen as being “strong” as if we don’t feel pain so we don’t need to be tended to… we’ve seen our physical and mental safety be disregarded especially in the healthcare system and we’ve been gaslighted even in our own community.
This post is a reminder that you deserve to have your emotional and physical well-being cared for, this shouldn’t be one-sided.
In order to see change, mindsets that have been held for a long time need to change and awareness needs to be brought. Tags like #blackgirlsmatter and #supportblackwomen exist for a reason.
