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Introducing Eyek of AfrikanRising
Hi guys! My name is Eyek, and I’m a content creator and
founder of a site called AfrikanRising (afrikanrising.com). On
AfrikanRising, I discuss all things race, gender (and it’s intersection), body
positivity, (complete) health, and a little bit about spirituality.
AfrikanRising has been active for over a year and I really can’t believe I’ve
stayed so consistent. The idea for my blog came from a course I took my final
year of college (also known as university), called “Health In The Digital Age”.
In this class we talked in great detail about how social
media and all the other outlets for information impact how we view health. More
specifically, we talked about activism, health activism and how our voices
online can shape any sort of discussion or movement. For our final project, we
were required to write a research paper in blog form. Basically we had to write
10 or so pages worth of information, in a series of blog posts. At first, I
really thought about dropping the class because, as I often said “if I wanted
to take a blogging class, I would have signed up for one”. Of course, as the
class went on, I couldn't get enough. Eventually, I ended up writing my
paper/blog posts on the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the lack of cultural competency and humility on the
part of The West (too much grammar, I know LOL).
I’m passionate primarily about issues affecting black women
(within the Diaspora and on The Continent). I’m not in the business of proving
that we’re worthy, beautiful, kind, etc because we already are all of those
things. I like to take a more comical (sometimes blunt) approach to addressing
issues concerning the communities I am apart of. Initially, I also talked quite
a bit about beauty, but I moved all of the beauty interests to a new platform
called OwnYourBeautyAfrique (@ownyourbeautyafrique).
While building AfrikanRising, I rediscovered my passion for
visual arts; specifically film, photography, and production. If it hadn't been
for AfrikanRising (and God, obviously), I would probably be pursuing a path
that I wasn't interested in at all.
My dream for AfrikanRising initially was unclear, but now I
know that I’m truly focused on educating
and inspiring those who read my blog. I want people to know that there is
nothing wrong with being themselves, completely. I want to encourage women like me to be bold
(or not), speak out (or not) be unapologetic (or not). I use my site to combat
the notion that black women are two dimensional. We are complex, we don't exist
for anyone but God’s consumption and approval. Period. I’m here to encourage
people to live their best lives, but I also want people to be realistic and
most importantly patient with themselves.
It has been a blessing knowing beautiful people like
Rosemary who constantly inspire me to do what God has called me to do, and
ignore the naysayers. I also am truly blessed to have a growing online family
that just as much as me, wants to talk about Beyonce, plan our birthday
parties, as well as call out misogynoir in the media. I’m excited to see where
this AfrikanRising journey goes and even more excited to share this journey with you all.
You can find me
everywhere (actually, not really)
Instagram: @afrikanrising
Twitter: @afrikanrising
Facebook: @afrikanrising
Snapchat: @afrikanrising
For Beauty and Makeup
Instagram: @ownyourbeautyafrique
Snapchat:@ownyourbeautyafrique
Facebook:@ownyourbeautyafrique
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