Progressing Black Women

Growing up as a black female in the UK, there were so many things that I had visually accepted.

I was born in the early 90s and as a kid all I was into was dolls, Disney, pop magazines and Jacqueline Wilson books.

Unfortunately for me most of these things (except the very rare few) were represented by one skin type... And it wasn't mine.

I can say that besides all of that we did have more women of brown and mahogany tones in the media back then, Eternal and Macy Gray to name a few. There were more women back then that represented me, my mum, my aunties and my grandmothers... Women who I thought I would grow up to be someday.

I am classed as a "brown-skinned" girl (even though all black people are a shade of brown), meaning I was not too dark, not too light which is a slight plus in the world of colourism. But dark-skinned women were the ones I looked up to and wanted to be like as most of the women in my family were of a darker shade.

The older I became the less these women and women like myself were being shown, slowly being fazed out like some embarrassing trend.

The more I grew-up, the more I became aware that we were no longer considered beautiful and the more lyrics and idea's about black women became derogatory, demeaning and more impactful on our progression.

"It is an absolute joy to see yourself on the front cover of a Magazine..."

Since the "Natural Hair Movement" a few years back, more women of colour are taking a stand to what defines being black and beautiful. We are flaunting our different body shapes, tones, kinks and lips boldly and with confidence!

But with racism and colourism being the top dog of all important sectors, there is unfortunately still a long way to go to for all women of colour. We have still yet to conquer the racial barriers in the UK, India, the Americas, Europe and so on.

Due to the unfortunate death of George Floyd who was killed by a police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020, an uprising for black rights, black equality and all things black has taken centre stage. More discussions are being had on national television and more famous people of colour are highlighting there experiences.

The power of change.

Ghanian editor and chief of British Vogue Edward Enninful keeps giving us cover after cover of ebony enlightenment. Celebrating and endorsing black women from all different backgrounds of all different skin tones on the front covers of Vogue.

We've had keyworkers, singing sensation Beyonce, curve model Precious Lee to British actress Thandwie Newton. Telling our stories, reshaping our history and shooting us in such a delicate and yet powerful light!

Who would have ever of thought this day would come where so many different women are represented on one of thee most influential fashion edits of all time?

It is an absolute joy to see yourself on the front cover of a magazine and see not just the old favourites like Naomi and Iman, but women who aren't necessarily in major spotlights.

When I was in high school, the only magazines that represented us girls of colour was black hair magazines and a music magazine called young voices.

I would be flicking through it with some of my girls secretly in classes and during break-times, picking out what hairstyle I wanted next and checking out posters of who we fancied. I used to carry it around in my transparent art folder, super conscious and super proud that my people had their own content. As a girl who wanted to pursue a career in fashion, it was very difficult for me to find fashion magazines that featured black women. Sometimes, I would flick through the big names and see not one woman that looked like me, better yet of colour and in the end I just became used to it.

It makes me so happy to know we are finally being frequently featured, a variety of influential black women who could be thick, slim, Muslim, disabled and even 5ft 3" (like me!) on fashion front covers...

The future has truly begun.

#celebrateblackwomen #blackgirlmagic #thefuture