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Editor's Letter: Slay In Your Lane Is Important To Me And My (Future) Daughter

I envy my youngest sisters and for good reasons. My youngest sister is 15 and she is obsessed with the YouTuber Nella Rose. She follows her on all social platforms and whatever Nella Rose says, goes. Then my 17-year-old is obsessed with Beyonce. She admires her voice, her work ethic and considering she was only two when Beyonce dropped Dangerously In Love, I’m always amazed at how she has gone back and studied Beyonce’s whole back catalog of solo albums. Then there is my 22 year old sister. She says Oprah is her role model and believes that Oprah didn’t need that Vogue cover. My sister also spends a considerable amount of time watching social media videos of the Nigerian comedienne Funke Akindele because she is absolutely hilarious. 

I envy my sisters because of the choice they have in terms of black women they idolised. They see and love black women of different ages, body shapes, skin tones and nationalities who have fundamentally different purposes. Now, those of us who went through childhood and puberty anytime before 2010, knew that seeing black women in the spotlight that weren’t in entertainment and didn’t fit a certain aesthetic was a rarity.