KICKIN' IT WITH THE KINKS

Thanks to my husband, Gbenga  I was able to take part in a photo shoot with Kickin' it with the Kinks. The organisation which was founded by Cynthia Butare, a Swiss Ruwandan documentary filmmaker who is working hard on promoting natural beauty particularly among women of African heritage.

Having made a documentary Kickin' it with the Kinks, which won her the best film at the Manchester Metropolitan University for her final year project, Cynthia is working tirelessly on raising the profile of black women using the power of the media. 

The inspiration for her film came when she realised she couln't remember what her natural hair looked like as she was stuck in a vicious cycle of fixing artificial weaves. She was eager to find out why it is that most black women don't wear their natural hair.

She found out that there is more than just fashion behind the scenes and that the subject of hair and how it is worn amongst black women is tied to an ugly past which most people are not prepared to accept.  She conducted interviews with several women of varrying heritage and its quite interesting to find out how strongly some, especially women of African heritage feel about their hair or hair extensions need I say.

Unfortunately, most African women have been indoctrinated into believing that their natural hair is a no go area, hence would rather 'indulge' themselves by doning european styled natural hair. Apart from the monetary cost of matching up with the 'white beauty' which had been propagated by former masters, there are many other adverse consequences to the black woman. (The video should be available later in the year).

In keeping up with her theme, Cynthia decided to team with Gbenga to do a photo shoot which will promote women's natural beauty.You can see a video documentary of the photo shoot below and it involves women of different shades and tones. And all the women involved, including me are beautiful.  

Makeup artist: Kada Faida
photographer: Gbenga Afolabi
models: Stacy Toussaint, George Oluyinka, Damiana Casile, Khota D. Aleer , Ange Ka and Emese Afolabi
music: DivaGeek, Belle, Naomi the Empress and Zakes Bantwini