#afro-centric

Lady Red, Ultra Violet & the Afro Candy’s... Inspired by the natural beauty of ‘the black woman’ enriched with vivid color & majesty is artwork from freelance illustrator & visual artist JeffRey Onyango.

Hey everyone. It's been awhile since I've written a blog here and I'm undecided on making another YouTube video about this. However I just had to get these thoughts out. Over the past few years, I've noticed the black goth / alternative community get much more exposure than we used to. I'm so glad to have been apart of that & helping others become apart of that. We still have a ways to with being represented way more in media & alternative mainstream clothing brands. (See my YouTube video about that: Goth Talk: Response to Sleepy Flow3r | Black Silk https://youtu.be/5qezweVB2ak ) But we're more noticed as a whole now than before and that's progress. Also more non-black alternative people are being supportive and not tolerating racism than before. Let one person say "black people can't be Goth" and watch the Goth/Alternative community unleash hell on their racist arses 💪🏼💪🏻🔥 Ok, so at this point you're probably wondering "What's the point of this blog then Silk?" 😆 Well I'll say it bluntly: I feel there needs to be more support and exposure of black/POC Goth and alternative people with Afro-Centric features and those who DIY. Let me explain, as this is common in the Goth/Alt community already. The people with the most expensive stuff, with the most Euro-centric (and often skinny) features will get the most support and also the most exposure. Now take that and apply it with the black POC Goth community but downsize it to the same people being used over and over because of these reasons. Then those of us with Afro-Centric features &/or who shop more on a thrifty budget that do get shared (if at all), get very little support vs the others. No I'm not trying to further divide us, but that's what I'm noticing a lot scrolling through these big Goth/Alternative pages & websites. I'll see a few black Goths here and there but it's not as a diverse selection as our pale counterparts. Now I know for sure there are way more of us than what's being represented. I mean check out the #blackgoth & #afrogoth for yourself. I DID however, see an AfroGoth (MomotheGoth) sporting a fro on Instagram (RogueandWolf) and was pleasantly surprised. I was almost worried to click the comments under their post but they were mainly positive comments 🖤 As for the low-budget / DIY Goth & Alternative community. I mean, who doesn't love to shop on a budget and look badass?! The expensive brands can be really cute but a lot of us can't afford that day to day for many practical reasons. Reminds me of those Hot Topic days back when they mainly sold Goth merch 😆 So can we please have more of this? 👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾👏🏿 I'd love to hear everyone's feedback on this and let me know if you'd like to see a YouTube video covering this topic.

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This is an interesting blog post regarding one woman's rediscovery of kwanzaa. Its very short, but still worth a quick read.

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