She will be receiving the President’s Award — which recognizes special achievement and distinguished public service — at the 51st National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NAACP Image Awards on Feb. 22 in Pasadena, California.
She is a high achieving, nine-time Grammy award winner, executive producer, fashion designer, actress; and a global advocate. In 2012, she founded The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 11: Singer Rihanna attends the launch of her first visual autobiography,
In a statement released by the organization, Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, commented on what sets Rihanna apart for the award.
“Rihanna has not only enjoyed a groundbreaking career as an artist and musician but has also distinguished herself as a stellar public servant. From her business achievements through Fenty to her tremendous record as an activist and philanthropist, Rihanna epitomizes the type of character, grace, and devotion to justice that we seek to highlight in our President’s Award.”
Johnson will present the award to Rihanna during the LIVE TV special on BET on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, in Pasadena, California.
Previous recipients includes last year’s recipient Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter, Jesse Jackson, Lauryn Hill, Soledad O’Brien, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Muhammad Ali among others.
Winners for the 51st NAACP Image Awards will be revealed during the LIVE TV special airing on BET on Saturday.
Kim Kardashian West makes an amazing step for a woman we met years ago on reality TV. She changed her focus to prison reforms so dramatically?
On her kids, she said they see so much of how she studies, go to school like them and how she opens up to them about what she does. They’re so young now, but seeing their mom make a difference means everything.
As Kim matures, its obvious she’s realizing how her A-list status can make a real impact on the lives of others.
On UsMagazine, Kim explained, “They (her children) just see so much, you know, they see that I have to study, they see that I go to school, just like they go to school and we talk about little things like that. I have always been really open and honest with my kids about what I’m doing and what’s going on, and I think they’ll appreciate it, definitely when they get older.”
She said her kids have met people she has helped, thanks to her work.
Perhaps Kim wants her children to grow up in a world where they know it’s up to all of us to demand action when things seem unjust.
This is a good lesson that it’s never too late to embark on a new path.
Her father was an attorney, and as The Things reported, that was influential in sparking her interest in the area of law. She may not have followed this passion earlier, but she has now taken action and has followed in his footsteps.
Will any of Kim’s kids follow her lead? Which is a good example been laid out for them.
We gathered advice from some of the most renowned voices when it comes to love and romance to find out what the signs of a truly healthy relationship are. We also discovered what to look out for to know that a relationship isn’t built to last and could be heading for a breakup.
Their Life Goals Are The Same
According to the experts at Psychology Today, a clear sign of a healthy relationship is two people sharing the same life goals: “You both know what you want out of life, what your common goals are… and are firmly committed to achieving these together.”
There is room for difference in a relationship, but not on the important matters like these.
They Respect Each Other’s Family And Friends
Being good to a person means nothing if you treat their family and friends poorly. Another sign of a healthy relationship is being on good terms with each other’s family and friends.
This shows that you’re willing to make an effort with the people in your partner’s life for the sake of your partner, even if you wouldn’t otherwise get along with them.
They Look Forward To Seeing Each Other
Los Angeles-based relationship expert Dr. Gary Brown told Elite Daily that looking forward to seeing each other is a sign that a relationship is happy and healthy.
Things like finding yourself “excited to make plans” with your partner and disappointed when you have to cancel show that the relationship is in a good place.
They’re Able To Spend Time Apart
A healthy relationship isn’t about spending every moment together. Dating experts agree that a couple should also be able to spend time apart doing things that are important to you as an individual.
If you’re able to spend time apart without getting jealous or possessive, it suggests that your relationship is going along smoothly.
They Bounce Back From Arguing
Arguing in a relationship doesn’t mean it’s not healthy. All couples argue, whether they admit it or not. What’s important, according to Mind Body Green, is the ability to bounce back from fights.
“If you can resolve issues and move forward in your relationship, then you’re on the right track!” explains the wellness site.
They Accept Each Other The Way They Are
A big part of any healthy relationship is accepting the other person the way they are. While couples can support each other and help each other to grow, they ultimately need to be able to love each other unconditionally and embrace each other’s imperfections.
This isn’t always easy, but if you can do it, your relationship is probably in a better state than you thought.
They Maintain Their Own Identities
Too often, people lose all sense of self when they begin a relationship with someone else. According to Psychology Today, it’s a sign that your relationship is healthy if you can both keep your own identities while still putting time and effort into the relationship.
A relationship might be part of who you are, but it’s not the complete story.
They Contribute Equally To The Relationship
A healthy relationship requires both people to contribute equally. One-sided relationships tend to result in a lot of resentment, as well as feelings of entitlement.
Instead, each partner should be contributing what they can and putting an equal amount of time and effort in so that the relationship works.
They See Each Other In Their Futures
Black couple having a conversation at a cafe outdoors in the spring
According to Mind Body Green, your relationship is in a good place if you currently envision each other in your future. It’s even better if you can’t imagine your future without your partner.
For a long-term relationship, it’s obviously important to see yourself with that person in the long term, even past marriage and kids if that’s what’s in store for you.
They Encourage Each Other To Improve
Relationships are about accepting people for who they are and loving them anyway, but that doesn’t mean a couple can’t encourage each other to improve in various ways.
Psychology Today explains that when a relationship is healthy, two people “inspire each other” to be better people and encourage each other to grow and change.
They Connect On A Number Of Levels
There are more levels to a relationship than just physical or just emotional. A healthy relationship takes into account the various elements of a relationship at which two people should be able to connect.
A sign of a healthy relationship, according to Mind Body Green, is being able to bond with your partner spiritually, physically, emotionally, and intellectually.
Their Communication Game Is Strong
Any relationship expert will tell you that a couple needs to be able to communicate efficiently to make things last.
You know that your relationship is in a good place when you can talk to each other about anything and know how to communicate your needs and wants without the fear of being judged or shut down.
They’re Able To Disagree Respectfully
A couple will always have arguments, so they need to know how to disagree with each other in a respectful way.
If they can disagree with each other without hurting each other’s feelings, and accept that sometimes they’re going to feel differently about things, it’s a sign that they’re in a good place.
There’s A Sense Of Peace Between Them
Mind Body Green explains that there should be a sense of peace between two people in a relationship. Your partner should bring you comfort and happiness, not stress and anxiety.
If you are overrun by negative emotions when you’re with them, it’s a sign that the relationship isn’t healthy.
They Trust Each Other, No Matter What
Trust is a non-negotiable part of being in a relationship. When your relationship is in a good state, you should trust each other to be there and support one another.
You can also trust your partner to stay loyal to you, keep your secrets, and follow through with their promises.
The Women Elite Sports Empowerment Initiative (WESIE) was founded in 2012 by Miss Funke E. Adeniji who began playing basketball in her teens and was able to overcome a series of athletic and personal challenges to work her way up from collegiate level basketball in the UK to division 1, the UK’s premiere league for women. Her hunger to learn and improve as a player led to a brief stint in Australia, after which she returned to the UK to play for the Sheffield Hatters whom she helped win back to back championships.
Whilst experiencing some success, the series of challenges she faced on her journey led her to conclude that many women have limited options and opportunities to achieve their full potential as players; this realization would change her life forever. She decided to set up WESIE and qualify as a basketball coach with the aim of creating opportunities on and off the court for female athletes to achieve their full potential.
Her experience as a clinical pharmacist with an interest in Global Health Policies has also made her especially sensitive to current health challenges being faced by millions across the globe within the context of struggling health care systems, especially across Africa. While attending an international health conference she realized that she could easily combine her efforts to help women excel in sport whilst creating a platform upon which to improve the health and wellbeing of participants and their wider communities, starting with Nigeria. There is an immense passion for WESIE events in Nigeria and they have become an effective health intervention tool there. Nigerian women, and African women as a whole, face the same challenges that women in sports all over the world face but the problems are magnified due to weaker infrastructure and a lack of government support. By creating local opportunities for these women to excel and reap the full benefits of sports within their own communities WESIE is empowering these women in their communities.
Many of the young women who participate are considered a high risk group for diseases such as HIV so WESIE events have served as an effective mobilising and interactive tool to deliver health & well-being messages.
WESIE was founded with the motto ‘To Inspire, Empower, and Enable’ to encourage communities to live healthy and productive lives, the WESIE founder recently published ‘Truth About Health Exposed’ a holistic health guide to support people in their quest to live healthy. Alongside it she hosts a podcast called ‘The Ma Titia Podcast’ under the name of “Ma Titia” (which means teacher in the Efik tribe of Nigeria), in which she addresses trending topics in health as well as the issues outlined in her book. Proceeds of the book and related activities will go towards furthering the WESIE vision and outreach capacity.
Exquisite Magazine is starting the year by drawing strength from the amazing story of its magazine cover which features the amazing Busola Dakolo, nicknamed “The Voice of Courage“.
In this issue, Busola Dakolo who is a photographer graced the cover of the magazine looking absolutely stunning, as she shared her journey to finding her voice in the midst of adversity.
The cover celebrates the photographer for her strength and courage to speak up after her rape incident, which definitely helped a lot of other women going through similar situations to find the strength to speak up as well.
Black female financial gurus are breaking barriers in the personal finance realm. They serve as role models to women everywhere, especially women of color. There’s something inspirational about seeing someone who looks like you achieve the same goal that you want to achieve. Their visibility consistently gives me the motivation to meet my own financial goals because if they can, why can’t I?
These female gurus have helped me in more ways than one because they’ve helped change my money habits and serve as inspiration. I am a regular on their sites, a fan of their books and a member of some of their Facebook groups. Surrounding myself with role models, resources and other women interested in reaching financial goals will surely feed your ambition for financial independence, as it does for me.
Bola Sokunbi is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, money expert, and a best-sellingauthor of Clever Girl Finance. Her main goal is to help women save money, build real wealth, maintain accountability, and ditch debt. Bola offers a financial education program that provides financial guidance and empowers women. Join Bola at Clever Girl Finance! In our recent interview with Vanessa Ideh, she mentioned Bola Sokunbi as one of the people that inspired her to start Launch To Wealth, a YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers.
Michelle Singletary is a personal finance columnist. She pens The Color of Money, a recurring column in The Washington Post on Wednesdays and Sundays. She is also the author of three personal finance books, a television host, and has appeared on NPR. Subscribe for weekly newsletters to learn how to spend well and live rich!
Kara Stevens is determined to help black women step into their financial confidence and eradicate their debt. She has worked with thousands of women as a consultant, speaker, writer, and coach. Be happy. Be healthy. Be brave with Kara!
Patrice Washington is a financial expert who is redefining wealth. She helps women to live their life’s purpose, find fulfillment, and earn more without chasing money. Patrice is a number one best-sellingauthor and has appeared on dozens of popular media outlets, such as the Steve Harvey Show and Dr. Oz. Subscribe to her newsletter and podcast to live in your purpose!
Tiffany Aliche is an award-winning financial educator whose mission is to empower women and provide them with resources to create a better life. Her financial movement has helped over 800,000 women and eradicated $75 million in debt. She is a blogger, podcaster, and she has even helped change the legislature in New Jersey (The Budgetnista Law). Join her Live Richer Academy!
Marsha Barnes is a Certified Financial Social Worker, financial educator, and financial commentator. Marsha aims to build your financial confidence. She believes in financial education for all and she even has a financial literacy bus! Join her Members Club!
Dominique Broadway is an award-winning financial planner, personal finance coach, speaker, finance expert, entrepreneur and the Founder of Finances De·mys·ti·fied & The Social Money Tour. She has a passion for helping young professionals, entrepreneurs, and people of all ages achieve their dreams. Join her Bootcamp!
Kendra James is a virtual CFO and business manager. Kendra specializes in building a structure and financial strategies for business women that are ready to take their business to the next level. She offers a podcast, consultations, coaching for accounting professionals and a virtual CFO service. Sign up for her services!
Melissa is both a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) and a money coach. She specializes in helping Caribbean and American Millennials rid themselves of debt, so they can live the life of their dreams! Join her Money Massive Crew for financial hacks, money tips, scholarship alerts and more!
Dasha Kennedy is a millennial financial coach who is helping women of color get ahead. She is the founder of the Broke Black Girl Facebook group, filled with over 60,000 women. She consults with clients about money management, female entrepreneurship, and empowerment. Dasha aims to improve black financial literacy within the community. Keep up with Dasha here!
Captain Treone Larvadain becomes the first African-American woman to be a police captain in the Louisiana State Police Department.
On January 28th the Governor John Bel Edwards announced her following the retirement of Captain Clay Chutz, who served the LSP for about 30 years under 6 different governors.
“I am extremely proud of both Captain Larvadain and Captain Chutz and congratulate them on their accomplishments,” said Gov. Edwards. “They have both provided excellent service to the people of our state and exemplify the best of the Louisiana State Police.”
“My family and I are especially grateful for the professional work Captain Chutz has provided to us over the last four years and have the utmost confidence in Captain Larvadain, who has worked alongside him and has now taken over the reins. The longevity of Captain Chutz’s career and the promotion of Captain Larvadain are a direct reflection of their dedication and commitment to the force and our great state,” he continued.
As a woman, Larvadain has proven there is no position you can not have. She been with the force for over a decade, according to a representative from the governor’s office. She started her career in Troop C in March 2006 and then proceeded to the Protective Services in 2008. In 2012, she was promoted to sergeant in the Bureau of Investigations and also served as an instructor at the training academy.
She was promoted to lieutenant in Internal Affairs in 2018. That same year, she also made history with her daughter Tiah as the first-ever mother and daughter to actively serve in the LSP at the same time.
Now, Captain Larvadain’s unit will ensure the safety and security of the state’s current Governor and the Governor’s immediate family.
“I decided to keep my beard and step forward against society’s expectations of what a woman should look,” said 29year old Harnaan Kaur. She is a Motivational speaker, anti bullying activist and a model.
At age 12 she was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) condition. One of the symptoms of PCOS is hirsutism, an ability to grow excessive facial and body hair.
Harnaan suffered intense bully in school, and her parents tried helping by taking her to the beauty parlour for beard shaving and waxing. “I did that every other day because my hair grew so fast – and shaved in between. They waxed it until my skin burned, going over the same patch again because some hairs were hard to get out. Then they would thread the raw skin, then pluck it.”
All this did nothing to stop the bullying. “They called me everything under the sun, threatened me with knives and stabbed me with pens,” she says. By 15 she was skipping school, contemplating suicide, and self-harming. “I wanted to punish my body for looking this way. I wanted to hurt it.” One day, she emptied a bottle of pills into her hand. “It was my turning point,” she says simply. “I thought, ‘Fuck this shit!’ If the bullies are allowed to live, why shouldn’t I?”
In 2016, she was included in the world’s records as the youngest female with a full beard.
Despite it all, Kaur has decided to love her body the way it is. And that was a turning point.
In an interview with Rock N Roll Bride, Kaur reflects on her decision to keep her beard: “I decided to keep my beard and step forward against society’s expectations of what a woman should look like. Today I am not suicidal and I do not self harm. Today I am happy living as a young beautiful bearded woman. I have realised that this body is mine, I own it, I do not have any other body to live in so I may as well love it unconditionally.”
Kaur with her image in Rock n Roll Bride magazine. Photograph: Courtesy of Harnaam Kaur
Kaur uses her social media profiles to contribute to numerous body positive campaigns. She frequently posts content to promote awareness of body shaming, cyberbullying, and mental illness.
Jihan Abass is a 26-year old Kenyan Somali woman in a country that values neither women, Somalis nor youths. Her achievement, founding Kenya’s first digital car insurance company, is therefore that much more formidable. She excelled in an environment where women, Somalis and youths are actively stifled and their voices muffled.
Abass is the founder and CEO of Griffin Insurance. The company released its flagship mobile application on Friday. The app allows customers to buy their insurance policy in less than two minutes. Additionally, Griffin Insurance lets customers pay in instalments and pause coverage if they travel abroad and will process claims in a week rather than the industry standard of 30 days.
When people walk into their offices, they look for the boss, looking right past her. “They would be surprised to see that it was actually me,” Abass told Reuters.
In addition to Griffin Insurance, Abass and her team have another company called Lami that sells the same technology that Griffin Insurance uses so that other businesses can use it to create their own digital insurance products.
One of the biggest challenges of the Girl child in Northern Nigeria, is the way they are mostly objectified or given away in marriage at an early age , thereby making it difficult for most of them to get basic education or even have access to infrastructure that prepares them for the Future.
Jennifer Agunloye is giving these girls hope through her G.I.S.T foundation ( Girls should Thrive), a Kano based registered NGO focused on raising female leaders from disadvantaged communities through entrepreneurship, education and technology. The award winning writer and internationally trained civic leader certified by the university of Nebraska, Lincoln is passionate about community development through women empowerment.
She is a Certified leadership coach, who is inspiring youths and raising female leaders from disadvantaged communities across Africa through the Tagit academy.
She’s also the founder of Herfreekan Ventures, a social enterprise set up to empower women financially and Co-founder of Agric-farms enterprise focused on reducing hunger and poverty through agriculture.
She is impacting the lives of the girl child and women through her other initiatives like “March against hunger project”, “Safe Space Program” and Support Her Effort (SHE) , which focuses on supporting women with small businesses hawking in the street in different slums. So far Jennifer has empowered over 50 girls and reached over 3000 families in Kano state.
She shares her inspiring story with Esther Ijewere in this motivating and eye opening interview, highlighting some of the major problems of the girl child in Northern Nigeria and how she’s amplifying their voice to give them hope.
Childhood Influence
My childhood did Infact prepare me for this even though I didn’t realize it then. I was overweight as a child and that made me grow up with a lot of self esteem issues. Though I was lucky to have encountered the right set of people who saw my potential and nurtured it, I noticed that a lot of girls were growing up with terrible self images for different reasons are were settling for less in life and this was putting them at a disadvantage. This was one of inspiration for going all out with our organization. I also went to school with a lot of girls with amazing potentials but have just refused to dream because of the environment they were growing up. There, women were just considered just good enough to be wives and mothers so any woman with a dream was considered abnormal.
Inspiration behind GIST
I started GiST as an online blog focused on inspiring girls to dream and believe in themselves. But after my university education I returned to the community where I had my secondary school education and I realized that most of the girls were now young mothers of 2 – 3 children with no source of lively hood. The level of poverty and abuse in that community was increasingly in an alarming way and worse the younger girls were headed in the same direction. I knew that if something was not done, the numbers would just continue to sky rocket. So it dawned on me that the people who needed what I was sharing on my online platform were not on the internet. They were on the street and in those villages and undeserved communities. This was what inspired the Girls Should Thrive Initiative to become what it is today.
Combating the demoralization of the Girl child in Kano
Our work is focused on getting the girl child to see herself for who she really is – A beautiful brilliant human that can achieve anything she sets her heart to. We focus on challenging her mindset. Getting her to see herself differently, to believe in herself and make an effort to change her life and not give up no matter what life throws. Simply put, we believe that when these girls allow their potentials to gain expression everyone will have no choice but to reckon with them. This is how we confront the demoralization; getting the girls to see that they deserve better and are capable of more.
Impact of our activities in Northern Nigeria
Through our March against hunger project we’ve been able to enlighten over 3000 families on the importance of Educating their female children.
One of our major success stories is Maman Amira, the mother of a crippled girl who we met living in the street during our March against hunger project. We fixed the roof of her house and empowered her to start up a business. Now Maman Amira has a poultry business which is empowering 6 women through a community-based cooperative and Amira is now in school preparing to sit for her final exams.
Also, through our safe space program we’ve provided in depth leadership and entrepreneurship training to over 1000 girls have so far empowered over 50 girls like Kudirat who has now registered her business and reached over 3000 families.
Challenges of being an Advocate
One of the major challenges I’ve faced is the challenge of keeping the girls coming for our trainings. The girls usually have to be provided with incentives to keep them coming for a while before they realize the value of what they are being given. Since Our organization has operated largely based on donors for individuals and private organizations it has been very difficult to provide those incentives and hence we loose some of our participants along the way and usually have to go back and start afresh with them when next we come for the next batch of training, hoping earnestly that they would follow through till the end.
Our Empowerment programmes
The Support Her Effort (SHE) project was inspired by one of our March against hunger beneficiaries who had given up on her business after facing some challenges but decided to pick it back up after we spoke to them about the importance of entrepreneurship. An elderly woman with the responsibility of training her grand children because their father (her oldest son) is epileptic. She collected some goods on credit and started all over. After I spoke to her I just realized there are many like this woman who are making intense efforts to keep there businesses alive so they can make ends meet. We decided to start supporting such women to encourage them and boost their businesses. The project selects one woman a month and at the end of the year we select the most outstanding one among who has done amazingly well with the investment and give her an even bigger investment. Our goal is to increase the frequency to one woman weekly and take the project to the next level of training this women on how to grow their businesses and select at least 10 women annually to qualify for more funding.
The plight of the Girl Child in Northern Nigeria
Well we’re not where we want to be but we’re definitely not where we used to be. Things have improved significantly to a large extent. I don’t believe girls are being treated as they deserve. A great number of people still see girls as nothing but sex object. They measure her worth by how “sexy” she is or how well she can cook. That’s a huge disrespect to a person created by God Himself with amazing potentials. So honestly we do have a long way to go but like I always say, while we are demanding that society stops obejectifying the female specie, we should all empower these girls to be confident enough to demand for their respect which is what we do at Gist.
If I had the opportunity to share my thoughts about the Girl child with the Kano State Governmen
I’d say you are missing a lot when you don’t empower your girls. There is so much potential buried in those girls that can solve most of the challenges facing the society today but if their potential is not developed, they cannot even try. I must commend the government though. They are beginning to make efforts in that regard and its encouraging but they can do much much more because there isn’t much time. We have to save the next generation from being partakers of the effect of marginalization of girls.
Being a Woman of Rubies
I think what makes me a woman of rubies is my passion. My deep seated passion to see women rise. To see women break barriers, over come limitations and be all they can be. I see it as an honor to be gifted with such drive to contribute to women’s development in my own way and it’s such a blessing to be able to do it in Northern Nigeria. Reading about the qualities that women of rubies should have, I felt so honored to see that I have come to embody some of these qualities over the years through my experiences and God’s grace. It’s such a privilege thinking about it. I don’t take it lightly in any way.
Dear Marginalized Woman
My final word of Marginalized women is this: it won’t always be like this. A time is coming when you will be everything you dream you’d be. A time is coming when you will get an education with ease, you will have a voice in things that concern you and your children. You will give expression to all the gifts that God has blessed you with without being afraid or ashamed. The time is coming when you won’t be careful to raise your head high and be confident in yourself and in your dreams. That time is close. So, don’t give up yet.
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