6/27/2020 0 Comments My favorite black youtubersI've had this idea to list my favorite black YouTubers for awhile now but wanted to wait until I finished with school to do my research and put the list out for you guys. And then George Floyd was murdered. In light of the recent protests and call to change, as well as call for promoting black businesses, products and creators, I thought it'd be even more appropriate to put this list out so you guys can support these fellow creators. I also thought it'd be great to have creators to look to during these trying times. However, I wanted to find more creators that align with my views as well as fit a wide variety of different niche's and so recently my list has changed. As a result, this list is only of the creators that I watch on a daily basis instead of something extremely expansive. I know this list may seem short but it's because I typically don't watch a lot of YouTube in general but I am fully confident in the creators I have listed down below for you guys. So I hope you enjoy. Entertainment Will Smith- We all know him, we all love him and he puts out plenty of entertainment and comedy videos. He literally has an intro to his YouTube channel trailer (which is freaking awesome so I'll link it down below) and as much as he films comedy skits, he aims to aspire, create and just show who he is and who he wants to be outside of his fame. He likes to challenge himself and the limits of humanity by taking risks and involving his family in on all his crazy and fun adventures. And so if you ask why you should watch him, I can honestly just say if you want to be entertained, he's your guy. Books (BookTube) Naya Reads & Smiles- I've really been getting into BookTube recently--YouTube where you talk all about books--and I've been loving the journey so far. Naya is, as her channel says she is, all about reading and all smiles. Her positive energy is absolutely radiant and I love the way she talks about her books with passion, depth and honesty. She's also a killer, curly haired queen. Her book genres seems to range (I've only been following her recently so I can't say for sure) but she seems to definitely prefer fantasy and young adult the most. In her most recent video though, she talks about her most recent experience about being black on BookTube and her support during the Black Lives Matter Movement. She's talked about this topic before however, mentioning other black BookTubers to support which I will have on a second list. So tune in for those honorable mentions. Black BookTuber's get even less opportunities simply because the book community and BookTube community is very obviously white, so I have her video linked when you click on the grey but I do highly encourage checking out all her book reviews and BookTube challenges because there are many. Family Lifestyle Kier & Them- I'm not big on family vloggers simply because I obviously can't relate to what they're going through at that point in their lives, however I love cute kids. I found Kier and Them randomly on Instagram one day and then moved to their YouTube channel where I've been checking in periodically on the journeys and adventures of parenting which is as amazing and hilarious as it seems. Kier and his wife Noemie raise a beautiful toddler little girl but use their platform to talk about healthy parenting, family dynamics and relationships all the while navigating life as millennials. They do challenges and vlogs so if you're looking for a family friendly content, this is the channel to watch. Hair Laurasia Andrea- I found Laurasia on none other than PINTEREST! You guys know my everlasting love for the outdated social media but two years ago, when I was starting my own wig and hair journey, I loved looking at the amazing pictures and then videos of the way Laurasia colored, cut, and designed her own hair. I'm not someone who stays consistent with color and I love anything that's out of the box and wild and Lauraisa has honestly done everything. She also does amazing makeup, which was why it wasn't surprising to learn that she was a makeup artist first. If only she would sell the colorful wigs she designs! Maybe one day, but I admire the hair empire and community she's built online and if you want to continue to support black businesses, she sells her own hair so definitely check her out. I'll link her Instagram down below so you can follow her and see the photos that initially drew me in. But if you're looking for stellar wig creations as well as some very in-depth talks from a powerful girl boss, Laurasia's your girl. Makeup & Beauty Jackie Aina- If you haven't already heard all about this makeup beauty icon, I'm here to tell you all about her now. Jackie does makeup reviews, challenges, and talks on all things from Jordyn Woods to self confidence tips. All her makeup art is “wearable and pretty” [end quote. lol] and she’s a meme queen! Truly authentic, always here to give an honest review for her audience and always someone who does a great job at promoting other black YouTubers and black makeup products which is amazing because we love an uplifting role model. So if you’re looking to grow your beauty and makeup community and don’t know where else to look…start with her. Cuz she’s a queen. Period. Comedy Prince Tai- I honestly don't even remember when and where I found out about Prince Tai, but I've been following his channel for about two years now and his content never goes out of style. He's a gospel artist but on his channel he does black church comedy skits that don't go over more than 2 minutes each and they are absolutely hilarious. For anyone who's grown up in the church, you're laughing from relatability and from anyone who's just on the outside looking in, he relates to all aspects of Christianity all the way to having a special segment just for church grandma's. (Gladys really be trippin' y'all but if we all don't already have one, we all know one. lmao) So if you're looking for some light humor, definitely follow him. You don't have to be religious to watch either so I'll link a video where he's dancing in the mirror during quarantine. It's literally only 20 seconds. Enjoy! Lifestyle Jayla Koriyan TV- When I say boss b$$$$ this is SHE. Jayla actually has two channels--one for lifestyle and one for vlogs--so even though I'm going to recommend both, I'm going to mainly talk about this channel. Jayla talks about all things hair, money and organization tips, as well as what's going on with her hair brand, her book Pretty and Educated, and on how to get your life together. She does so many things that I didn't even know what to narrow down on in order to talk about her but she's also so relatable and has such fun loving energy. I'll leave her second channel down below and with both channels you'll get to see all about her brand for her products if you want to support and buy from her business. Daniella Perkins- Danielle is a 20 year old actress and vlogger. Some of you may know her from starring on Nickelodeon (I honestly couldn't tell you from what. I was a total Disney girl haha) but I love how random and fun her YouTube videos are. Her titles are what drew me in, things like "trying on everything in my closet ft. satisfaction" or "throwing myself a birthday party ft. self love" which I always thought was very cool. But I just love how she seems to always talk to us like we're her friends, on FaceTime, and we're going on these life journeys with her. I also like how her videos are never too long, nothing goes past maybe 15 minutes which I can always appreciate when I just want to watch something short, fun and lighthearted. Kianna Naomi- Okay, next! We have the one, the only, KIANNA! I actually love her. I had been looking for YouTubers who were more my age (back when I first started watching YouTubers in...2018. Yes, I was very late to the party. We should not be surprised) and when I found her it was like a breath of fresh air. I also just want to mention how amazing it is when you're following someone on their journey and can finally look back and recognize when and where they've grown as a person and developed as a channel. It's just such an amazing feeling. Anyways, Kianna talks about fashion, traveling and does vlogs. She recently just left college to pursue acting and other things while living in LA so I highly recommend watching that as well as her other videos. She's also a THRIFTER! For everyone out there looking for tips and tricks on how to style and thrift clothes, she's your girl. Liya Hizkias- And last, but certainly not least, let's talk about Liya! She's an Ethiopian-American college student studying Communications in Los Angeles (straight from her bio haha) but talks about fashion, beauty and vlogs her college adventures all the while giving tips and advice. I initially found Liya from her hair videos but now I like to follow her throughout her life and college journey. If you're looking for someone with fun, creative lifestyle videos, she's the girl for you. I think it's so important that we have and highlight representation online and show the amazing things amazing black women and men have done for our community by being the faces online. Diversity on YouTube needs to be promoted because not often does the algorithm show the content these creators have made when they can circulate white creators instead. The influence of seeing blackness in pop culture and different mediums is so important for our youth in order to encourage us to break into these spaces and to have familiar faces to look up to. When doing makeup, it can be hard to be dark skin and find a shade for you, but Jackie Aina does that. It can be hard to find black authors and books when white YouTubers don't always read outside of the mainstream names of Angie Thomas and Beverly Jenkins. Naya does that for you. Promoting these creators and the spaces that they're in allows black voices to be heard and to be encouraged to continue to grow in the spaces that weren't always made to represent us in the first place. So, I hope this list was helpful for you guys and please, give me a list of some of your favorite black YouTube creators in all genres if you have any. I'd really love to expand my viewing. I also just want to say that these, of course, are not the only black YouTubers out there, nor are they the only ones that I watch but as I've said before, I picked the ones that I watch the most and are most looking forward to exploring in these upcoming weeks. Below I've linked petitions and places to donate to support the Black Lives Matter movement and I hope everyone stays safe, stays united and stays hopeful. Until Next Time. With love, Arianna Link to Will Smith Trailer
Link to Laurasia Andrea's Instagram Prince Tai Jayla's second YouTube channel Links to Petitions Link to Stream To Donate (Watch with ads to help the cause) If you guys have anymore helpful information or links to places to donate or petitions to sign, please let me know! Just because it's no longer in the media doesn't mean the fight is over. When there's no justice, there's no peace. Black Lives Matter. Today, always, and forever.
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6/17/2020 4 Comments Blackness: a spoken poemThis is for all the little black and brown girls out there who once in their life felt that their blackness was something that needed to be anything than what it is: Greatness.
BLacknessBlackness, is the skin that I’m in, but what happens when being born black is simply a sin and the only crime you’ll ever commit is to exist? The skin that I tried so hard to shed, in the way that I talked or how I made my friends, working so hard to make somebody, just anybody, to like me, because they couldn’t really see me past the darkness that their parents told them made me a threat, to them and their existence when... it was their existence that suppressed my resistance to a system that made me want to be more like them; because being me was wrong and being black was dangerous and so I tried, so hard, to shed this beautiful skin that I’m in until one day, somebody told me that God gave me this skin because he wanted the sun to love us a little bit more than the rest. And so then, I began to undress all the layers of resentment that they put into me and told me to wear- let my wings fly free after they tried so hard to bend them to fit theirs. Finally let me sing with the rest of my black sun kissed goddesses because they tried so hard to keep me away from the power, they knew I would gain from being united with more people who didn’t look like them. I no longer was afraid to resist because I was already afraid to exist, when my only crime was that I failed to submit to the system that had stolen everything away from me anyway. And so today, I fly. And when you look up in the sky, my skin is the reason why I can dance with God in the clouds so freely, because my skin doesn’t burn when I finally am able to bask in his glow. Untouched by the hands of a world that’s tried to tear me down. And so no longer will I try to shed my skin, again. Because my skin, is nothing but a blessing. You are beautiful, you are black and that makes you powerful. You are not a flaw, a mistake or an imperfection. You are black girl MAGIC and that's on period.
Always with love, Arianna |
AuthorI'm an 21 year old girl who lives in NY. I love to read and write and fashion is my life. Follow me to find out more! Archives
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