Lifestyle

Our friends at @untitledspaceny have a new solo exhibition currently running from June 9th to June 30th, 2022, called “Multifaceted”, which is the debut New York solo exhibition of artist @faustinebadrichani.art. Curated by gallery owner and artist @indiracesarine, “Multifaceted” explores female identity, emphasizing the essence of womanhood through faceless female silhouettes. A French artist from Provence, Faustine has been based in New York City for over ten years. She concentrates on the abstracted female figure and representations of femininity. “I feature empowered women who exist for and by themselves, away from any form of fetishization. In my practice, the body is not just an external shield or shell – it is inherent to female identity, and painting it is a way of revealing the very essence of femininity,” said the artist in a press release about her exhibition. Faustine says it is important to her that the silhouettes of nudes she paints are never sexualized or objectified. “Through the representation of women’s bodies, I address many different themes including intimacy, strength, power, happiness, and freedom, but also anxiety and vulnerability. I represent confident women who are who they want to be, multifaceted, empowered, mysterious, and universal,” she said. Head to the link in our bio to see more details about the exhibit. 🎨🖼 . . . #untitledspace #multifaceted #womanhood #empowered #women #art #exhibit #femininity #identity #instagood #artist

"Every child deserves to be the hero of their own story." Do you know you are almost three times as likely to see a speaking animal in the central role of a children’s book than a Black, Latinx, Indignious, or Asian child? And out of the top 100 best selling children’s books: 📖1 in 5 does not feature a single female character 📖Only 2 feature a Black, Asian, or minority ethnic character in a central role 📖And only 1 features a disabled child but they do not speak or have a key role. Today on the blog we have a guest post from @drrachelkowert, who is currently running a Kickstarter campaign for 3 new children's books from the "Tales from Cloud Canyon" series. Her previous book, "Pragmatic Princesses" came from another successful Kickstarter campaign, where she raised more than $26,000 and won an award for education children's picture books. Now she is looking to capitalize on her momentum, focusing on the importance of diversity and representation in her characters and stories, utilizing her background in psychology to empower kids to see themselves in the stories they read. Dr. Kowert says when kids don’t see themselves represented in the media they consume it tells them that they are not important. Here's what she told us about her mission to change the narrative: "The fictional characters in childhood stories are some of our earliest teachers. We learn a range of things through the observation of these symbolic models, such as what is right and wrong, desirable and undesirable behavior, gender roles, norms, stereotypes, and more. The role of models is particularly influential in childhood as it can have a long lasting impact on intellectual, social, emotional and moral development." Head to the link in our bio to support Dr. Rachel Kowert's Kickstarter campaign while it is still running, and read more about the importance of diversity in children's literature. 👧🏽👶🏻👦🏿📚 . . . #childrensbooks #kidlit #author #diversity #childdevelopment #teacher #representation #childhood #visibility #rolemodel #hero

If you are a fan of food trucks then you need to know about @goodfynd - the mobile platform for food trucks that connects foodies with their favorite mobile restaurants. Sofiat Abdulrazaaq is co-founder and CEO of Goodfynd, who recognized that while food trucks have been gaining popularity in recent years, surprisingly, there hasn’t been any real way to track their location. An impact-first executive, Sofiat found a way to pair her foodie status with an easy-to-use payments platform that would help food truck operators and entrepreneurs, many of them immigrants and people of color, dramatically scale operations. Last year, Sofiat and her co-founders raised $1.8 million in their seed round, while in 2021, Black entrepreneurs received a mere 1.2% of the record $147 billion in venture capital invested in America. Sofiat and her team are helping to change the status quo. We had the chance to speak with @sofie_for_short further about her passion to elevate the entrepreneurs of color in the food truck world: "I am a first generation American, and many of my immigrant family members came to America in search of an American dream. A lot of them were working in the food space because it did not require them to speak perfect English, or have graduated from college, etc. So helping entrepreneurs who are majority Black and Brown people have a path to increased visibility and increased success is something I will always want to do. In my opinion, they are the worthiest segment of the restaurant industry. They are all largely overlooked by technology." Get to know what Sofiat's fave food truck is, and learn more about Goodfynd via the link in our bio! 🌮🚚 . . . #foodtruck #foodies #goodfynd #entrepreneurs #immigrants #Blackentrepreneurs #womenofcolor #blackexcellence #fintech #experience #impact #founder #executive #instagood #WCW

About 10 to 20 percent of known pregnancies end in miscarriage, according to the Mayo Clinic. Miscarriage is a relatively common experience — but that doesn’t make it any easier. For @friedahoffmanwrites, her second miscarriage brought an onslaught of emotions with very little literature or support available on the subject. So, she took matters into her own hands, creating the resource she knew she needed: real stories from real women about pregnancy loss that offer comfort and wisdom without the off-putting lens of religion, academia or medical jargon so typical of the books on this topic. In her debut ‘Carry Me: Stories of Pregnancy Loss‘ featuring her own story as well as 19 other women, Frieda explores universal themes of grief, bearing witness, transforming adversity into opportunity, and the paradox of feeling alone while sharing a common experience. The diverse women and narratives unpack the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of loss; notions of womanhood and motherhood; and the intersections of public health, body politics, and patient care. Here's what she told us in an interview about the power of shattering silence and taboo by sharing personal stories: "Personal storytelling is a powerful way to humanize the experience and elicit compassion. I wanted to show a range of experiences so that readers could relate and find comfort in particular voices and pregnancy journeys that resonate with their own. That’s why these stories and conversations are so important." Read more about the diverse women featured in 'Carry Me' and the way different cultures deal with grief, pregnancy loss and motherhood, via the link in our bio!🤲🏽 . . . #Carryme #motherhood #womanhood #friedahoffman #pregnancy #miscarriage #pregnancyloss #women #diversity #community #Storytelling #story #body #politics #silence

Today on the blog we're featuring a guest post from author Ames Sheldon, whose book 'Lemons in the Garden of Love' we've previously featured. Ames' great grand-aunt, Blanche Ames Ames, co-founded the Birth Control League of Massachusetts, and the women in her family have been fighting for women's rights for generations. Ames lays says the Supreme Court case set to overturn Roe v Wade, doesn't just end with abortion - they’re also coming after birth control! "On May 3, the Supreme Court confirmed that a leaked draft ruling to overthrow Roe, which ensured a woman’s right abortion, was authentic. A final decision is expected by June/July, when justices will rule on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case on Mississippi’s law that would ban abortions after 15 weeks. Mississippi went even further, blatantly asking the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. Defeating Roe would ignore 50 years of its own precedent.” Ames explains how this would impact the most vulnerable folks, and doesn’t reflect what majority of Americans want: "Two-thirds of Americans don’t think Roe should be overturned. A ban on abortion could affect hundreds of thousands of women each year, and low-income women and women of color would disproportionally bear the burden of new restrictions. Eliminating the right to abortion will mean more deaths and life-altering negative outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women. It would also inhibit safe medical management of miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. Already the maternal mortality rate in the US is the highest among developed nations, which impacts Black and Brown women the most." Her call to action is to make sure we vote for pro choice candidates in November, with this reminder: "Without reproductive freedom, how can anyone determine the course of their own life? Women have been trying to gain equal rights ever since the founding of this country. But the fight for equality and control over our bodies is far from over." Read the full piece via the link in our bio! 🗳🇺🇸💊 . . . #roevwade #abortion #birthcontrol #womensrights #humanrights #reprorights #reprofreedom #bodilyautonomy #prochoice #maternalhealth #pregnancy #supremecourt

When it comes to fitness, Latinas are battling everything from body-shaming and euro-centric beauty ideals, to one-size fits all workout plans and nutrition advice from so-called experts, to overwhelmingly white gym or fitness studio instructors they can’t relate to. One woman is on a mission to change this, by empowering women, especially Latinas, to focus on self-love, health and movement. Vicky Loza, aka @vickythefitchick, is a Mexican-American and Los Angeles based certified personal trainer and fitness influencer who just launched her very own workout @fitwithvickyapp to give Latinas access to a personal trainer & community – in a more inclusive, approachable, and affordable way. During the pandemic when all of her income from personal training came to a complete stop, she launched virtual workout programs – and quickly sold thousands of them – earning $500,000 in a year alone. These days, she speaks in English, Spanish and Spanglish to her community on social media of over 130k+. Vicky spoke with us about her entrepreneurship and fitness journey, being in a male-dominated fitness industry that also lacks Latinos, and why she will always keep it real on social media and call out the toxic fitness messages she comes across: "My main goal for Latina women is to get them to move away from the quick fixes in health and fitness. I want them to love their bodies and know that the ‘easy’ way is not necessarily the best way, and that it oftentimes can be harmful to their health and wellbeing. I also feel that there aren’t enough Latinx personal trainers out there in the public, so I want to help bridge that gap and encourage others to join me." Get to know the badass Vicky via the link in our bio! 🏃🏽‍♀️🏋🏽‍♀️🧘🏾‍♀️ . . . #vickythefitchick #fitwithvicky #vickyloza #fitness #wellness #health #latina #latino #personaltrailer #women #empower #selflove #bodyimage

If there is one rising singer/songwriter you need to have on your radar right now, it is @kaylathompson. Twenty-six-year old Kayla was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and later moved to North Carolina where she currently lives with her family. Being raised in generations of singers, songwriters, and musicians, music was always a fundamental building block of her life. In 2017, she released her first original song, ‘Hold on to My Hand’, and in 2019, she became the most vulnerable she’s ever been in her music, releasing ‘Deep Breath’—a piece sharing her personal struggle and triumph over anxiety. Her most recent release is the single ‘The Remains’ which reminisces on a summer romance that came to a heart-wrenching end with the shift of the seasons. Kayla is also a passionate advocate of uplifting other black creatives and artists in the music industry. Here’s what she told us about this focus in her career: "I recently learned that the song “Hound Dog,” famously known by Elvis, was originally released by black artist Big Mama Thornton and it’s unfortunate that most people don’t even know who she is. It’s important for black artists to be supported and recognized because in the past we haven’t or even worse we’ve been robbed of our original ideas," she said. "I am very passionate about uplifting other Black creatives mainly because I am Black but also because the genre of music I do is mainly indie pop and alternative music. I think most black musicians get put in this box of R&B/Soul simply because they’re black. When we enter into spaces where there aren’t many of us, it can feel a little isolating. So it’s comforting when other people of color are pursuing the same thing you are." To listen to her dreamy tracks and get to know Kayla, head to the link in our bio! 🎤🎵 . . . #kaylathompson #indieartist #pop #theremains #artist #blackcreatives #blackartists #blackmusicians #younger #singer #songwriter #instagood #anxiety #heartbreak

During National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) back in April, TikTok shone a light on the creators and businesses who uplift and champion the Arab community every day within their local neighborhoods. One of the artists highlighted in their #PassTheAux campaign was singer @ilham, whose videos and music have been highlighted on special playlists on the TikTok sounds page. Ilham popped on the R&B radar back in 2018 with her debut EP 41-10. Since then the New York native has continued to make waves with her silken vocals and seductive hooks. 129K+ followers on TikTok can’t get enough of the “cycle of games” singer, and you can also watch her latest music video for 'Is It?' which is on our site. While we love the various cultural heritage months that are highlighted throughout the year, we believe in celebrating diversity all year round, especially at a time when we are seeing so much division, backlash and opposition to the push toward progress and inclusivity in the United States right now. We also believe there is no better way to create safe and inclusive spaces than by sharing individual stories, fostering dialog and creating representation along the way. We had the chance to speak with Ilham about her music and why it is important for her to share her heritage with her fans and followers: It’s extremely important for me to share my Arab heritage because people who aren’t aware of the cultures in North Africa are now tapped in. They can learn or experience a culture just through their phone. And people who share the same culture as me will gain a sense of pride and belonging. It’s important to feel represented." Read our full feature with Ilham via the link in our bio! 🎤 . . . #arabamerican #heritage #culture #tiktok #artist #music #WCW #northafrica #diversity #video #instagood #Ilham