The first episode of British Vogue’s “Talks” went out on April 30th on Youtube and we are here for this. The main topic of conversation in Vogue Talk is Black women’s hair. The conversation included moderator Funmi Fetto, contributing editor for British Vogue, Leomie Anderson, journalist Yomi Adegoke, and Agnes Mwakatuma, co-founder of the Black Minds Matter charity.
4 WOMEN, 4 FIELDS
We love to see talks that allow Black women to discuss their experiences. The range of fields and perspectives represented by these women is interesting. They underline the issues of microaggressions, hair discrimination for young girls in school to grown women at work. We can all relate to one of these stories. Hair for Black women is a huge part of our identity and to see Black women talk about it publicly is major! This openness to talk is beneficial for us and for future generations. A major point of the Vogue Talk episode is that Black women have very similar experiences when it comes to hair even if we are not working in the same field.
TRANSPARENCY
Deep topics are mentioned and they speak with heart. Leomie Anderson is an interesting guest because as a model, her job is based highly on appearance. She is very transparent about her experience as a Black model in the fashion industry. “Being a Black model can be traumatic.They are a lot of people complicit in that and they don’t even realize the dehumanization of Black women when it comes to hair and beauty.“ – Leomie Anderson. Behind the scenes, she has endured difficult moments and it is great that she speaks up. Along with the conversation they highlight a major point which is the invisibility of Black hair in society. Indeed, the image of perfect hair in the media is often depicted as long, and smooth. As Funmi Fetto said about hair: “A lot of people see it as just very superficial but it so much more than that.”
BLACK HAIR IS POWERFUL ??
At the end of the day, even though there are traumatic experiences and low self-esteem associated with Black hair, remember our beautiful heritage. Natural hair is experiencing a revolution. For example, model Maria Borges was the first Black woman to walk with her natural hair for the Victoria Secret Show in 2014. Zozibini Tunzi was Miss Universe 2020 with her natural hair. Plus our Hollywood star, Lupita Nyongo, is constantly rocking natural hairstyles. Additionally, there are many other examples that can be noticed ??♀️.
This conversation is full of powerful messages that each of us can connect with. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it here, via Youtube.
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