When the REVOLVE Clothing influencer drama happened last month (long story short, they hosted an influencer trip where everyone pretty much looked the same and the blogosphere is TIRED), it took me a minute to voice my thoughts on their diversity issue because to be honest, I wasn’t that surprised.

I’ve been blogging since 2010, so seeing a certain aesthetic rise to the top even if their talent/style/insert whatever here was mediocre is nothing new to me. Plus, I have these conversations with my peers in the real world, and wasn’t sure if I had anything new to add to the (online) conversation. Is it annoying to see so many black creatives have a slower than normal rise because they don’t get the same opportunities/exposure than others? Hell yea. But I guess because I’ve never let these issues personally stop me from continuing to follow my passion and create the type of content *MY* audience wants to see, I didn’t get caught up in the drama.

I know there’s a diversity problem (it’s not just in the blogosphere but that’s a whole nother conversation) and that open, honest dialog helps, but… then what? How can we help fix this? Outside of calling out brands that only promote a certain type of look, what else can we do to counter it? I’m a solution-oriented person, so I sat back for a second, did some research and decided that I could either sit online and complain about it all day OR, I could use my platform for something positive and do my part in helping others diversify the content that they ingest.

There are so many stylish black bloggers + creatives out there creating amazing, inspiring content, and I want to share some of my favorites with you. I’m beyond bored with bloggers + creatives that have no substance and only push out product with surface level commentary, so I look for people that not only have beautiful photos, but also have a real story to tell. I don’t need to know your full life story, but I do want to be able to connect with you beyond saying “cute shirt!”.

If you’re bored with Instagram and have been looking for new accounts to follow, here are some of the stylish black fashion, beauty, and lifestyle bloggers + creatives that inspire me every day.

Lola Akinkuowo, Founder, The Blogger Etiquette

Karleen Roy, Founder, The Vanity Group

Kahlana Barfield Brown, InStyle Magazine Editor

Candace Marie, Social Media Manager & Editor at BarneysNY

Shavonda Gardner, SG STYLE

Ijeoma Kola, Lifestyle Blogger

Hayet Rida, Fashion Blogger

Hermon & Heroda, Fashion + Travel Bloggers

Kiitan A, Hair + Travel Vlogger

Monroe Steele Fashion & Lifestyle Writer

Ada Oguntodu, Fashion + Lifestyle Vlogger

Al Malonga. Parisian wardrobe stylist costume designer in NYC

All of these women are great storytellers, and use fashion, beauty, travel and style to give us insight into their world. Some are full-time bloggers, while others also balance demanding jobs and entrepreneurialship, but in the end, they all do it with style and grace. Hopefully you can connect with some of their accounts and be inspired as well.

And stay tuned: although Memphis has a small blogging community, we’ve got some DOPE ones, and I’ll be sharing a special post dedicated just to them soon! 

Who are some of your favorite black female bloggers + creatives to follow?

 

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