My first detailed post from my trip to India is reserved for my favourite outing… a visit to Sanchi, a World Heritage Site. The only other Heritage sites I had been to are ones in London and our very own Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua.
Bhopal is a beautiful city with amazing scenery and is said to be one of India’s greenest cities. Bhopal is also home to 10 lakes and is aptly tagged as “The City of Lakes”. In this post, I’ll recap with words and images my picture perfect day trip to Bhopal’s Upper Lake.
Back in 2022, I secured an amazing Scholarship opportunity from the Indian Government to spend two weeks in the country learning about Women Empowerment, Policy and Vocational Training. I had the most amazing time and met amazing women who I still keep in touch with to this day. This post is an introduction, obviously, but over a series of post I will be unpacking how I spent my life changing two weeks in India
How Long Has It Been? Too Long! The last time I published anything on this blog was three years ago and in that time so much about me has changed. I feel as though I’ve let this Cotton Tree grow unwatered. I suppose I should take this as an opportunity to reacquaint myself with this space and reintroduce myself. It truly has been awhile.
A lot of toxic behaviours in relationships are deeply rooted in patriarchal thinking. The sense of entitlement men develop in these relationships as well as the desire to take more than necessary from men acting on the “instinct” to provide. Patriarchy has tipped the advantaged far into the male corner certainly but women also use the patriarchy and have developed “trash” tendencies because of it. Men and women are both toxic and “trash” and this has led to a very unhealthy relationship dynamic.
Nottinghill Carnival 2019 is 8 months away and United Colours of Mas have already launched their costumes. Kaleidoscope is the theme of the presentation and the colours, gems, and feathers give you that mesmerizing feel. I’m going to walk you through the launch event and show you the costumes carefully crafted by UCOM.
This year, I found a feed on Instagram that helped me through my natural hair journey called "The Creamy Crack Rehab". Whenever i felt slightly tempted by the luster and sheen of a perm, that feed had multitudes of photos of men and women who embraced their natural hair. The name of the feed was perfect, and it did rehabilitate me from the temptation of the perm.
It provided a better appreciation for natural hair textures and some motivation for how i wish my hair to be in the future. Not only does the gallery focus on hair textures, the curator posts lovely illustrations of everyday issues faced by persons with natural hair. It's highly comforting to come to this space and see that many others faced those same twist out fails and comb breaking days that you have. It also lets you know that if these people have those rough days and haven't given up, that you should still push through.
Once again, when I'm interested in something or someone of interest, i always feel prompted to post it to my blog. I decided to get first had information instead of just my own perspectives and the curator of the wonderful gallery, Beulah Davina, kindly agreed to give me some insight into her inspiration for her masterpiece.
Here We Go:
My name is Beulah Davina and I am 22 years old. My favourite things are music, hair, photography, books and anything that involves acting or performance (theatre, films etc.) I currently live in the UK and I have a degree in Religious Studies and Theology.
I started The Creamy Crack Rehab in September 2012 because I decided to go natural but had no idea how to look after my hair. I used the Internet to research natural hair care and then I shared what I learnt on the Tumblr page. I also used the page to upload and reblog images of men and women with natural hair styles as I realised up until then that a majority of photos I had seen were of people with straight hair. I've always thought representation is important and I knew that people with natural hair weren't being represented or celebrated as much as people with straight hair so I just wanted a platform that naturals could go to to see relatable and inspirational images of women with kinky, curly and coily hair.
I started creating my cartoon illustrations almost accidentally. One evening during the Christmas holidays, I was extremely bored watching YouTube vlogs and doodling with a pen and paper. I remembered my friend had Bantu knots the week before and when she undid them she started walking around like she was Beyonce lol. I drew an extremely basic picture of a girl with Bantu knots and an image of her with curls with the caption: Naturals Be Like: I woke up like this #Flawless| When they really woke up like this.
I decided to upload the cartoon on The Creamy Crack Rehab's Instagram and Tumblr page because I thought my followers deserved a laugh, but honestly, I was worried that some people would be offended. When I uploaded it, I got a crazy amount of love and followers and so I kept creating more and more. Most of my cartoons are inspired by personal experiences or experiences that my natural friends have had.
I'm no artist, I just love to express some of my thoughts with simple illustrations. I draw my cartoons because I enjoy making people laugh and I like it when people can relate to each other. Whenever I upload a cartoon, my aim is to get at least one comment or message from somebody saying, 'this is me lol' or 'this is so true'. I think the natural hair community is amazing and I love to point out the things that make us all similar no matter how different our curl patterns or hair textures are.
Website: TheCreamyCrackRehab
Instagram: TheCreamyCrackRehab
This week has been a really fun week for me. I Had the opportunity to take photographs for a 4.5 star hotel in Antigua called Cocobay Resort. The photos are promotional and are to be used on their Instagram and Facebook pages. It's not permanent, as I'm only one of 2 photographers they are screening, but I do hope that I'm the successful candidate. So, I've decided to post some of the photos that I took during my one week at Cocobay Resort.
I created a font to be used for the branding of the hotel, and i put that on all the photos that i produced for the hotel. If I'm chosen, I'd produce 7 photos a week for the hotel, 5 of the guests and 2 of my choice. I'm pretty proud of the work that I've done this week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Because I really really want this, and the funds would help me finance my law degree, as well as build my professional portfolio.
I never really post much of my photography on my blog, but I've decided to start doing so in an effort to market myself and build my brand. I've been afforded many wonderful opportunities and I'm really glad that I can add Hotel Photographer to my list of accomplishments in my short lifetime.
I had to come up with unique and unusual shots of different areas at the hotel. I had to make sure that i was very nice to the guests as well and be friendly with the other staff.
I was not introduced to the photographer who I'm "competing" against for the position which makes it harder as I'm not sure how I'll do against them, but I'm hoping for the best. Hopefully my work brings them a lot more social media credits.
I'll let you guys know how it goes and if i successfully passed the trials. Keep your fingers crossed with me.
Renee Edwards Ambrose is one of the most inspiring persons that I've ever come across. She's a go getter and she lets nothing get between her and her goals. She's a professional Drag Racer and has competed and broke records at meets across the Caribbean, She's runs her own Drag Racing Team; Lady Horsepower Farm, and she's even an aircraft mechanic for LIAT (the Caribbean's Main Regional Airline). But, despite all these things that might colour her a tomboy, She's an established Plus-Sized Model. She won the Caribbean Plus Competition in 2013, and become Antigua's first Miss. Carnival Plus International Winner in 2014, and recently she took home the title of Miss. Curvy Idol, an international modelling competition.
I've had the pleasure of working with her so many times as I've photographed her for her portfolio as well as personal pursuits. She's a beautiful person, both inside and out. So when She won Miss Curvy Idol, and my photographs of her were plastered all over the internet, I felt a sense of pride. I'm forever grateful to her for believing in my talent and using my photographs to promote her brand. Congratulations Renee :)
Here are some of the Photos featured on the Curve Appeal Website
Featuring Photographs by Annetta Jackson
