Developing Story on Gloabl Evolution in African Fashion

Have you wondered how African fashion has become a new trend recently? Especially after the release of Black Panther back in February. It took the world by storm and ‘Black Panther’ premier inspired filmgoers around the world to dress the part to the preview weekend.

Let us refresh your memory. The African continent has 54 countries (States) and each of them has their own culture. Within each country, they have different tribes and things they believe in, as everyone knows “Culture is a way of life”. Ghanaian born and raised socialite and lifestyle blogger Nene Kabutey, took time to interview Kennedy Nana Kofi Ansah a renowned Ghanaian celebrity designer and CEO of Afriken Novelty and popularly known as “Afriken by Nana.”

He expressed his excitement that African fashion is gaining global exposure, “I have never been happier with knowing my continent is being represented on a global platform, Nana said”. About two decades ago a lot of people did not know about the continent in Africa and the rich culture they have when it came to fashion. The continent has also experienced some groundbreaking designers such as Christie Brown and Duaba Serwaa. 

These two are a few of African top designers from Ghana who have showcased their designs in Europe and other parts of the world and are still breaking boundaries for their continent. When it comes to African fashion it has a lot to do with meaning and symbolism. From the fabric to the designs in it, style and making sure the outfit fits whoever is wearing it.

• Photo Credit : Pamo’s Expression.

Fashion has come a long way globally. Years ago, most brands were used d to send catalogs to customers to let them know the latest items they were in stock. As time went on that changed and sales started having sales programming on television to highlight these latest items on a model. Now that there are several ways to advertise these products through the internet it is become much easier to have several options to choose from.

Kennedy continued to explain why all these factors into designing a nice outfit for anyone, especially the African woman. “An African woman embodies curves and she needs to show them in every outfit she wears, Nana said.” He continued to say most African women have natural curves and that causes attention most of the time. So, when it comes to him designing outfits for women, he makes sure he’s designing it to suit the personality as well and not to be exposing their bodies because that causes a lot of attention already and not every woman likes to be the center of attention when she steps out.

When it comes to fashion colors, texture, design and styles matters. This article brings out the important aspects of fashion. A perfect example was when they made a reference to the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. Most African cultures adore those elements which bring out the meaning of what they chose to wear to certain events. Most global fashion also has meanings to what they wear and their designs. National Endowment for the Humanities published an article on how two American women changed the standard of style titled The Color of Fashion.

After the release of Black Panther, most celebrities in the African American community have been embracing the African fashion not only them but most people around the world from diverse cultures and race are as well. Which makes us all believe fashion can bring us all together especially in the current situation we live in now.

Display of modern style at African Fashion week Houston

“It makes more sense to embrace one another in different ways and fashion is helping to do that, Nana said.” Kennedy also concluded in a favorite African proverb “United we stand divided we fall”.

Aftermath of Woosley Wildfire

November 15th, 2018 would forever be an unforgettable night for some California residents who live in the Valley area and its surrounding neighborhoods like Malibu, Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Hidden Valley, and Simi Valley. Imagine how it would feel if you had to wake up in the middle of the night to a burning house, that’s how most residents in these neighborhoods had to wake up to and to be rushed from their homes leaving behind everything.

Residents of Thousand Oaks were still mourning  Mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill less than 24 hours before the wildfires started. This put most of them in a state of disbelief because the Mass shooting in Thousand Oaks eclipsed by huge wildfires, families and friends of victims say. The Los Angeles fire department were out helping put the fire out whiles helping residents evacuate their homes for safety. The state of the wildfire was extremely dangerous to the point that some residents had to be flown out of their neighborhood.

Even though some houses were not affected by the fire some residents were issued a mandatory evocation for their own safety. Madison Green a resident of Calabasas shared her experience on how the fire affected her and her boyfriend. “It was a scary situation to be in and living across from the affected houses. My boyfriend and I were scared we could have lost our lives, Madison said.”

A video shared on social media went viral of a lady driving through the fire to a safe destination. ABC 7 had access to the video and also shared it on their evening news;  Woman captures dramatic video driving through flames while fleeing Woolsey Fire in Malibu.  In the video, you could tell from her voice and how scary she was driving through the fire in desperation. The fire caused so much air pollution to the point where most schools were shut down till further notice and residents were advised to stay indoors. The quality of the air was unsafe for people to be out.

It’s been a week after the fire outbreak and most people could not believe what had happen to them because they were in a state of disbelief. Even though those who lost their homes were safe others were still mourning the lives that were lost during the outbreak. “We are happy to be safe and alive after all the craziness. We lost power and internet for a few days, but we are grateful to be alive, Madison said.”

The fire department disclosed that the California wildfires leave at least 74 dead with more than 1,000 still missing: ‘It’s going to get worse’.

A journey of a First-Generation college student

James Masons is a final year student of Valley City college and in a month from now would be graduating with his Associate degree in Business Administration. Being a first generation college student does come with a lot of challenges, in an article published by Linda Banks-Santilli,  Living a Double life it details a life of a former first generation college student turned professor and the journey to where she is today.

James is the youngest of 5 children and the only male. He decided to go against all odds and get an education for himself. Growing up he knew he wanted more than what his parents could provide for the family. His mother works as a janitor in an elementary school and the father is a handyman. Though both parents dropped out of school before high school all they knew was working to provide for their families. “Seeing my parents work extremely hard to support my older siblings and I made me feel I had to go an extra mile for my future, James said.”

Before graduating from high school James had been looking into colleges that were near his home and was affordable to attend. Over the years there have been several debates on  Should First-Generation College Students Receive More Financial Aid. Knowing how college is expensive James made up his mind to start from a junior college and enrolled at Los Angeles Valley College to study business with a specialization in International Business. After his first semester in junior college, James was awarded a scholarship for his excellent achievement. Not only that but he was also offered a work study position on campus to help him financially for his upkeep. “I was not expecting any of that, it came as a surprise and made me emotional that day. And since then I have never looked back, James said.”

After staying on top of his education and being diligent James would be among 2000 graduates to be receiving their Associate degree next month. For him, the journey does not end there. He plans on furthering his education in a four-year university for his bachelors. As to what schools he wants to transfer to he’s thinking about University of California Long Beach or the University of Southern California.

 

TSU Homecoming 2018

Texas Southern University also known as TSU celebrated this year’s homecoming from October 22nd to the 27th. This year’s theme was to celebrate “The Heart and Soul of Houston.”. TSU has produced some amazing people like Barbra Jordan, Loretta Devine, Yolanda Adams, Michael Strahan just to mention a few.

This year’s activities started with the launch and gospel concert which brought together local gospel artist to perform to kick off the week-long festivities. The TSU school choir were not left out of the fun including students who performed songs from their various gospel artist and gave them a chance to display their God-given talent. Other activities also took place during the week where students were also given the opportunity to give back to their community and went to different elementary and high schools to donate and spend time mentoring. “It gives me so much joy to come back and help with students I consider as my younger siblings, Erin said.”

The week-long festivities kept people busy, Thursdays was the welcome back event for Alumni who had traveled far and near to participate in the week-long event. Friday also marked the yard festival which had vendors ranging from food, drinks, souvenirs and other items displayed on sale. Saturday morning started off with a parade where students and staff march through downtown Houston to celebrate the year’s activities. Later in the afternoon was the highlight of the fun where it was a 24-hour tailgate party. During this time there are several activities that go on.

Another outstanding thing TSU is known for when it comes to education is being one of the top HBCU’s (Historical Black Colleges and University) and it was founded in 1947 when colored people did not have access to tertiary education. Since then it has opened its doors to everyone regales or race, sexuality, and religion. Homecoming is one of the things that bind people together and allows them to explore so much more,  9 Awesome Homecoming Traditions . these traditions including a step show including the divine 9. The divine 9 are very common in predominately black institutions. They always show off their dance moves through a step showing  Nine Of The Best Black Greek Strolls We’ve Seen From The Divine Nine.  It is always a wonderful time to see them at every homecoming because they also bring in the fun and help people to reminisce their time back to when they were in college.