afronoire
LIFESTYLE + ENTERTAINMENT DIGITAL ISSUE #01
CONTENTS DIGITAL ISSUE #01 - 2013
afronoire 8 Phenomenal women 16 Black women through .....art 18 Women we admire 21 Black woman and the .....beauty myth
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24 Knowing your hair 25 Forever natural 26 Curlvolution
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28 Being a woman 30 Gettin Shea’d
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31 Get the look 34 Interview: Rachel Kerr
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40 Kyla Frye 41 Sheila Nortley 42 Is he worthy? 43 Autum’s come early
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44 Oliva Tweest 45 Attracted to the black .....women 47 Science behind sex 50 The 90 day rule 52 Why your health is ......important 54 Rocking your role 55 Virtuous woman and .....her money
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HELLO!
Welcome to Afronoire Magazine’s 1st quarterly digital issue. We are London’s brand-new and rising publication for African and Caribbean women. This mini issue is reflective of one of the aims of Afronoire Magazine – which is to empower and encourage you to embrace who you are. For centuries, we have failed to recognise our power and have at times, struggled with taking ownership of that power and accepting it as it is what makes us phenomenal in our own way. In our lifestyle editorial we look at women who have contributed to the empowerment of black women throughout history: Yaa Asantewaa, Maya Angelou, Oprah Winfrey and Nina Simone. We share an exclusive interview with UK musician, Rachel Kerr and Afronoire’s designated and talented hair stylist and creative: Ama Monique. Read on as we discuss life, what it means to be a woman, music, entrepreneurship, art and more. Get social and let us know what you think of this issue by tweeting or emailing us
PHENOMENAL WOMAN by Maya Angelou
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can’t see. I say, It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, ‘Cause I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
PHENOMENAL WOMEN SPREAD
JANE Ron Ackins took inspiration for this piece from Janelle Monae’s Metropolis: Suite I (The Chase). The Album is based off a story of forbidden love between a female android and a human
MADONNA & CHILD The portraits in this project were created in celebration of the black female, much of the inspiration came from women in classical art - Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.
BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS This strilling painting created by Terrence Adegbenle pays homage to some of history’s most prominent and rebellous black women including Yaa Asantewaa and Queen Nanny of the Maroons
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WOMEN WE ADMIRE We take a look at some of the most sensational and aspirational women throughout history
Lauren Hill Erykah Badu
Jill Scott
Whoopi Goldberg
Janelle Monae Janet Jackson
Whitney Houston
Kerry Washington
Gemma Feare 18
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Tia & Tamera Mowry
BLACK WOMAN AND THE BEAUTY MYTH -The reflections of an ordinary woman
M
y first visit to South Africa made me fall in love with the beauty of black women’s hair. From dreadlocks to short cuts, to neat little afros, to braids, as long as it was natural and real, South African women were proudly wearing their hair in a variety of styles. So imagine my shock when I returned a few years later to find shops selling false hair. I guess like their counterparts in most parts of Africa, women were now also joining the bandwagon of “beautiful” women. Oh how my heart bled. For far too long, African women have allowed the West to dictate what a beautiful woman should look like. I have a serious problem with how black women all over the world have allowed the idea of beauty to be dictated to us. Let me start with our hair. All across Africa, women are either frying their brains with hair relaxers or damaging it with weave-ons. Put a group of ten women in a room, and nine will have false hair. It simply does not make sense. In order to weave on hair extensions, we cornrow our natural hair and then sew or glue either a horse’s tail or another woman’s hair on top of this natural hair. What can make a race hate itself so much it has to go to such lengths to disguise its looks? Weaving and hair-relaxing is not just a choice of hairstyle. It’s a deep issue which tells the rest of the world that natural African hair is ugly and should be kept hidden. As if it’s not bad
enough that grown women choose to hide their natural God given hair, even innocent children have relaxed or woven hair. I blame those who illicitly celebrate the idea of Western beauty while disregarding black beauty. From the music industry to the law courts, natural hair is considered an abomination. I remember a friend came to visit me in Ghana. As much as she admired my natural hair, she was afraid to ‘go natural’ because she felt as a lawyer in England, nobody would take her seriously. There are so many options a woman can make with regards to going natural. It is up to us to take control over our own image. As black women we need to empower ourselves and be courageous enough to wear our hair natural. If high profile women like Beyonce and Oprah chose to ‘go natural’ it would go a long way
Tracee Ellis Ross with natural hair
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LOVING RACHEL KERR Soulful, faithful and phenomenal are just three words to describe singer and songwriter, Rachel Kerr. There is no one else we would have loved to have grace the cover of our first quarterly issue as much as Rachel. She’s all that Afronoire is about. She exudes confidence and has a humbling presence. Simron Chana – editorial assistant sat down with Rachel to discuss the release of her latest single ‘I Will Love Me’ was released on July 14th and to also get her thoughts on what this issue of the magazine is all the about – the black woman.
“Being a woman is an empowring thing. Any specie that gives life is powerful”
AFRONOIRE INTERVIEW WITH: Sheila Nortley is an award-winning film producer and writer with a unique way of story-telling. She’s made waves in the UK film industry with a string of films that have been released including David is Dying, Victim and Zion. Currently she is
working on season two of the award-winning web-series Brothers With No Game and Limbo- a film that she has written. Sheila has an admirable strength and determination to pursue with a career as a young black women in such a cut-throat industry.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY? I’ve been making films for as long as I can remember. I began studying it around the age of 16 and have continued to study it ever since, but I began my career film around 2008 when I made my first proper short film.
discovery and for me personally I just enjoy watching life unfold so beautifully and carefully, like rose petals. I know that very little of what I do is about me, so much as it is about those who came before me and those yet to come. By this I mean, my ancestors and my descendants. And of course the Author of what has been written. With that as my motivation, that is what keeps me focused. Maya Angelou, who is far more qualified to speak on such things than me said: “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”
HOW DID IT GET STARTED? I guess I started when I was around ten or eleven and me, my cousin and younger sister would create characters and stories. We’d create a whole record label and draw all of the artist and bands, design their album covers, write interviews with them. We then made TV series’ and soap opera’s where we’d plot the most complicated story lines and then even act them out. From there I studied a Media A-level and went on to study get my degree in my field where I particularly focused on Production and Film Analysis. WHAT’S YOUR SUCCESS? Success is an
KEY
TO
on-going
WHAT DOES BEING A WOMAN MEAN TO YOU? Being a woman, to me, is being a human being. Being a nurturer. Being a creator, being someone who is capable of bringing forth life. There’s a saying that the woman is half of the nation and she gives birth to the other half so we play a key role in society. You know, heal a woman, heal a nation. I embrace my feminity.
SHEILA NORTLEY
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR? Obviously the freedom you have over your path, you can just kind of very organically- or strategically depending on how you want to play it - you can just go for it and do what you want. That’s probably the most exciting about being an entrepreneur in that sense.
SHARE YOUR FAVOURITE INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE “You are not just the drop in the ocean. You are the mighty ocean in the drop”– Rumi “And if I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America -- then, all of the credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine.” El Hajj Malik el Shabazz Info www.sheilanortley.com
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IS HE WORTHY? by Candace Oxley
R
efreshing, authentic, passionate are words that encapsulate this new voice. With a rasp in his tone, Jacob Banks is beginning to create something beautiful in the UK. This Birmingham based singer/songwriter and self taught guitarist strives to revive a more classic style of music, in spite of the current music culture, potentially in his way. A sense of maturity and class are present in this 20 year old, with influences like Curtis Mayfield, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, the soul of this young rising star definitely grants him original. His sound expresses that keeping up with modern day music trends don’t necessarily make you upto-date, it just makes you an addition to the existing. Jacob Banks has clearly steered away from the, what some would call, ‘noise’ of the music industry today and inhabits clarity, reality and an honest melody – the realness.
Music is the universal language this engineering undergraduate is also using to start a Birmingham movement. Raw talent is rare and lies in the crux of everyday life so with the help of his collective mates Knox Brown, Jade and Abbas, The Rookies (not literally) extend their hand to bringing these artists to the forefront of what appears to be, a repetitive, monotonous, uninspired music scene. His EP ‘The Monument’ includes a healthy selection of diverse and contemporary tracks with clear coherence. Having already collaborated with Wretch 32 on ‘Doing OK’, as he develops, features are going to be a thing of the past as he takes centre stage. This worthy artist is emerging from being one of the ‘Kids In The Corner’, breaking the mould of urban music and shining the light for more alternative acts, the UK is really going to have to make space for this one!
If he deems worthy to you, keep up with everything JB via his Twitter @MrJacobBanks YouTube Jacob Banks
Website
www.jacobbanks.co.uk
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WHAT MAKES OTHER CULTURES ATTRACTED TO THE BLACK WOMAN?
THE SCIENCE BEHIND SEX
“Sex is the greatest gift the universe has given to humanity” by Israel Ajose
THE 90 DAY RULE by Vernia Mengot
How will we ever define if 90 days is an appropriate time frame to let all your sexual inhibitions go with a new partner? For those of you who have seen the film Think Like A Man (2012) based on US comedian Steve Harvey’s 2009 book Act like a Lady, Think like a Man, you’ll remember the whole idea of a lady not giving up the ‘cookie’ and the so called ’90 Day Rule’. In the film we watched one of the couples as they struggle to place their sexual desires in a box and wait until three months were up, because it’s supposedly enough time for a man to have done enough to receive sexual benefits. Afronoire got the debate going with the cast of the award-winning web drama, Brothers With No Game. Here’s what they had to say...
Nemide May - Character: Vanessa Are men really willing to wait 90 days? Honey, if a man likes you enough he should be willing to wait however long you need. If he’s not then clearly he wasn’t worth your time anyway. Does 90 days automatically guarantee a man has done enough to be deserving of sexual benefits? No! But at least it ensures that you’ve taken enough time to get to know the person. If everyone waited 90 days 50
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to sleep with someone it most likely would mean that sex wouldn’t end up happening because we’d find out that they’re completely the wrong person for us and we need to move on! If a girl doesn’t expect you to wait 90 days, what do you think that says about her? Nothing. Let’s not judge a lady who has her own mind, her own rules and her own way of doing things.
DOMINIQUE AMBROSE-GREEN - Why your health is important in a relationship
Meet Dominique. She is a mobile personal trainer, a group exercise instructor and an athlete who has been in the industry for nearly 5 years. Dominique’s fitness career was inspired by her mother who is also part of the fitness industry. Her training sessions are influenced by her practice of Shotokan Karate (a form of martial arts). She is also a black belt in the sport. Her company ‘DWAG Fitness’ will be introducing boot camp sessions across London. Read on as we explore the subject of keeping fit when in a relationship, and for some health tips!
A
VIRTUOUS WOMAN
AND HER
MONEY
Keeping tabs on your money can be a stressful issue
The modern day woman earns and is in control of her own money. However, are women blinded when it comes to financial planning? Chichi Obi discusses the importance of keeping tabs with our income.
T
he key to freedom for a woman lies in her becoming financially free and independent. Financial independence is about having more choices and it equals freedom. You are not completely free financially until you have your money working hard for you so that you don’t have to work hard for money. Money may not be the most important
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thing in life but it sure does affect everything important in life. We know that times are changing and so should the mentality, attitude and approach towards money. Whether you’re a business owner, self employed or an employee, everyone needs a financial plan to achieve their goals. Without money, your options are limited in life. Whether you’re a high flying ambitious individual wanting to be rich or just