Jackie Aina, My Queen Forever

I love watching makeup tutorials/reviews/etc. on YouTube. I spend an embarrassing amount of time doing it. One of my favorites to watch is Jackie Aina. She has 3.3 million YouTube subscribers and 1.5 million on Instagram. First of all, she's flawless she's so gorgeous. She's also extremely funny I laugh out loud in every video I watch of hers. Another thing I admire about her so much is how she uses her platform to discuss what it's like to be black in America. Jackie is Nigerian, and has a darker complexion. She was a champion for makeup companies to extend their shade ranges, and even partnered with Benefit Cosmetics to extend their Born This Way foundation shades, which is HUGE! Here's a picture of this iconic woman.

In a video she uploaded recently, titled "Why You Shouldn't Touch Black Women's Hair" Jackie discusses a video that went viral on Twitter that showed a black woman (seemingly in an office of some sort) with at LEAST 3 or 4 people surrounding her with hands all over her hair. Jackie discussed how people on Twitter went after the woman saying things like, "why would she let them do that?" Jackie brought up the discomfort that can come from being the only or one of a few non-white people in a work setting. She talked about the importance of avoiding victim-blaming and began explaining how the woman most likely felt obligated to allow them to be in her personal space like that for fear of being the "angry black woman" that we've talked about. Shortly after this, she dropped a bomb that I can't stop thinking about. She said, "I'm just not buying that people have never seen natural hair before." THAT IS SUCH A GOOD POINT! I had never thought of it this way but for someone to say they've NEVER in their adult life seen a black person with curly/kinky hair is most likely a fresh pile of bullshit. She also told a story that made me laugh out loud in which she wore her natural hair to work for the first time and ONE OF HER COWORKERS ASKED HER (OUT LOUD) IF SHE WASHED HER HAIR. She looked right back at him and said, "...do you wash yours?" She discussed the best way to combat microaggressions when you face them is to be a sarcastic asshole. If someone asks a stupid question, show them how dumb they look!!! I hope this has piqued your interest in Jackie and that you'll check out this, and some of her other, video. I'll link it right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkyoyluZPSY