So I started my blog with post admiring amazing Black women who are doing incredible work in our generation and current era of time. I titled it Boss Woman Making Boss Moves because contrary to popular opinion Black women are the movers and shakers of this world! In other words, we have the power to get things done and we are bosses!
I plan to continue this segment because if we don’t recognize and celebrate these women, who will?
Beyonce’
Do I even need to say more? I’m definitely not going to explain who she is because I think we all know at this point!
I’ve never considered myself a member of the BeyHive but I’ve always listened to every album starting with every single Destiny’s Child project. I can sing along with every word and I might know a few of the dance moves.
But recently, I questioned if it was too late for me to join the BeyHive. I really questioned this after her Coachella performance in which she conducted a captivating performance and tribute to HBCU culture. One thing we can’t deny is that Beyonce’ PERFORMS! She goes above and beyond for every single performance and this performance was nothing short of amazing!
Looking back to her 2013 SuperBowl, 2016 BET Awards, and 2018 Coachella performance….I’ve noticed that she’s become more and more involved in using her stardom and undeniable influence to speak on injustices in America as a Black woman!
She’s fully embraced her blackness and her womanhood and has used her platform as a tool to speak out, empower, and inspire this generation.
Just this week, she was revealed as the cover story for VOGUE magazine’s September issue. In her article, Beyonce’ remained super transparent about her life and heritage, her relationship with her husband and children, experiences during childbirth, and her body. Several quotes from the story stood out but this one stuck with me:
“Through it all I have learned to laugh and cry and grow. I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her. I now feel so much more beautiful, so much sexier, so much more interesting. And so much more powerful”.
As a 20-something, this quote addresses much of what I have experienced and continue to experience and gives hope to who I will become.
Beyonce’ is completely transcending “limitations” as a Black woman artist and creating her own lane as an artist and activist!
Tamika Mallory
Activist, founder of Mallory Consulting, and co-chair of the Women’s March. She was born in the Bronx, New York and is an advocate of gun control, feminism, and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Tamika is involved in several organizations and has helped build crisis solution programs. Believe me HER RESUME IS LOOONG!
She has helped create the NYC Crisis Management System, an official gun violence prevention program which awards $20 million annually to gun violence prevention organizations. Her own company Mallory Consulting is a strategic planning and event management firm in NYC. She also currently serves on the board of directors for Gathering for Justice, an organization aimed at ending child incarceration and eliminating policies that produce mass incarceration.
With the Women’s March being my first encounter of Tamika, I quickly became intrigued by her wisdom and strength. Alongside, Bob Bland, Carmen Perez, and Linda Sarsour, Tamika organized the Women’s March, a worldwide protest against the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. The movement also advocated for women’s rights, immigration reform, LGBTQIA rights, health-care reform, and racial justice and equality.
As a result of her involvement with all these organizations, role as an activist, and simply being a Black woman, Mallory has faced discrimination and racism when being kicked off an American Airlines flight in late 2017.
Nonetheless, Tamika is continuously grinding to make changes within our communities. If you’re not familiar with her work, get familiar with her!
Ashley Blaine Featherson
Ashley portrays the Black, funny, intelligent, and woke Joelle Brooks in Dear White People, the popular Netflix series. Joelle is the best friend to Samantha White played by Logan Browning. Ashley graduated from Howard University where she graduated from the Department of Fine Arts.
I immediately fell in love and related to Ashley’s character and soon after I began to like her personally because of her witty personality and similar characteristics to her TV character.
She openly embraces her natural body, hair, skin, and blackness on and off screen and much like me, she seems to like to STAY WITH BRAIDS IN HER HAIR…(MY EVERYDAY VIBE)!
I look at Ashley and see a lot of myself, which makes her progress and journey in life very inspiring! Ashley is insanely gorgeous and has recently blown me away in her appearance in Wale’s new music video “Black Bonnie”.
If you haven’t already, watch Dear White People on Netflix and watch Wale’s music video to see more of Ashley.
Ashley Akunna
Creator, Host, and Brain of The Grapevine, a web-based panel/talk-show for millennials found on Youtube.
Ashley brings a group of Black and non-black intellectual thinkers, often known as non-celebrities to the table to discuss thought-provoking topics that impact and influence our culture daily.
When Ashley’s created the Grapevine, her goal was to spark dialogue about current life events and to create tangible solutions to how things can be changed. The show is intended to be a space to talk and be honest about important issues.
I watch this Youtube series often because I LEARN A LOT from these young, black and non-black intellectuals.
The series covers a range of topics from Bruno Mars and cultural appropriation (THIS EPISODE WENT VIRAL), the state of hiphop, “man-bashing”, the “n word”, natural hair, and more. Anything concerning the culture and our experiences as minorities, they got you covered!
If you haven’t, I suggest subscribing and getting educated! Ashley has continuously done a great job with providing us with amazing content!
Tiffany Haddish
It’s honestly hard not to like her. She’s a woman with a HUGE personality and a REAL story. Tiffany is a comedian and actress, who gained wide-spread attention from her role as Dina in Girls Trip.
However, let’s not get it confused…Tiffany has been working for years! She’s made guest appearances on Real Husbands of Hollywood, Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes?, That’s So Raven, Just Jordan, Chelsea Lately, The Carmichael Show, and If Loving You is Wrong, just to name a few.
However, after Girls Trip…Tiffany became the “IT Girl”…and has been given her own comedy special which premiered on Showtime called Tiffany Haddish: She Ready! From the Hood to Hollywood.
November 11, 2017, she became the first black female stand-up comedian to host Saturday Night Live and in December of 2017, she released a memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, which debuted at number 15 on The New York Times best seller list.
Currently she is a lead star in TBS sitcom, The Last O.G. and will star in a 2018 comedy film alongside Kevin Hart titled Night School. She has also recently signed a first-look deal with HBO.
Tiffany’s success and opportunities have sky-rocketed and she wears it with humility and a smile! There is nothing not to like about her. Look out for all of her upcoming projects and films!
Brytnie Devon 