Friday 28 February 2014

LUPITA NYONG'O SPEAKS ON BLACK BEAUTY


Yesterday Thursday 27th February 2014, African-American publication Essence Magazine held its 7th Annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon in Beverly Hills, California, USA.
Lupita who is nominated for an Oscar for her role as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, was honoured at the event. She arrived looked stunning as always in white. When accepting her award, Lupita who was introduced by Alfre Woodard - her co-star, discussed on dark beauty. I think we can all agree that part of Lupita’s success is because of her skin colour.                                                                                                                                                                                        Read her full acceptance speech;
I wrote down this speech that I had no time to practice so this will be the practicing session.
Thank you Alfre, for such an amazing, amazing introduction and celebration of my work. And thank you very much for inviting me to be a part of such an extraordinary community.I am surrounded by people who have inspired me, women in particular whose presence on screen made me feel a little more seen and heard and understood. That it is ESSENCE that holds this event celebrating our professional gains of the year is significant, a beauty magazine that recognizes the beauty that we not just possess but also produce.
I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty, Black beauty, dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: “Dear Lupita,” it reads, “I think you’re really lucky to be this Black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me.”
My heart bled a little when I read those words, I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Color Purple were to me.
I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before. I tried to negotiate with God, I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted, I would listen to my mother’s every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened.
And when I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no conservation, she’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful. And then…Alek Wek. A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me, as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me, when I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny.
Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty. But around me the preference for my skin prevailed, to the courters that I thought mattered I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me you can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you and these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.
And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul. It is what got Patsey in so much trouble with her master, but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. We remember the beauty of her spirit even after the beauty of her body has faded away.
And so I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside.
There is no shame in Black beauty.

Thursday 27 February 2014

OMOTOLA'S SURPRISE PARTY IN GHANA

Friends gathered for a surprise party for  Nigerian actress Omotola Jalade Ekeinde in Ghana yesterday evening. Omotola is in Ghana for business. Her husband flew in for the party to surprise her and help plan the party. She turned 36 years old on February 7th 2014.  Wishing Omotola the best today and beyond.

CATCH UP WITH JOHN DUMELO, GHANAIAN ACTOR

Ghanaian actor, John Dumelo is currently working on a shoeline in Paris.  Below is a picture of him in a meeting with his team.  Welldone john Dumelo.

STUDENTS KILLED IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SCHOOL IN YOBE

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect have attacked and killed some students of the Federal Government College Buni-Yadi in Yobe State north-east Nigeria. Witnesses said the students were attacked in their hostels at night and slain by the hoodlums instead of the usual gun to avoid the attention of security men within town.The Federal Government College Buni Yadi is a co-educational institution located some 55 kilometres south of Damaturu the Yobe State capital.The spokesman of the 3 Special Operation Battalion, Damaturu, Capt Eli Lazarus, who confirmed the assault on the innocent students said the casualty figure is yet to be confirmed because of the destruction of telecom masts in Buni- Yadi by the sect.However, the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is reporting that about 29 students were slain during the attack while an unknown number burnt to ashes.The service also reports that the perpetrators of the attack burnt down the school.Buni Yadi is the capital of Gujba Local Government Area of the state.Today’s attack is the fourth recorded on schools in Yobe since the commencement of the insurgency as GSS Damaturu, GSS Mamudo and College of Agriculture, Gujba were attacked last year.The Yobe State Governor, Ibrahim Geidam, while at the school for an on the spot assessment, expressed sadness at the incident.

TOOLZ RELEASES NEW PROMO PHOTOS FOR THE JUICE SHOW ON NDANI TV

Season 2 of Ndani Tv's celebrity show 'The juice' is to premiere in March. The host of the show,  Toolz just released this new beautiful promo photos.  Toolz looks so gorgeous in the pictures

Tuesday 25 February 2014

BEAUTY OF THE WEEK IS MONALISA CHINDA

This beautiful screen diva hails from Ikwerre in Rivers state. She is the first born in her family and has 5 siblings.  She is a graduate of theatre arts from the university of Port-harcourt. Her first major movie was pregnant virgin which she did in 1996. She is a movie producer,  Globacom ambassador,  face of vita500 energy drink and a multiple award winning actress.  She has a lifestyle magazine called Monalisa. Monalisa won because she is beautiful and in this picture her makeup is flawless and suits her. In addition, she has proven herself to be a good role model to females taking up various responsibilities and succeeding in all she lays her hands on. Kudos MonaLisa! Nigeria is proud of you.


Please leave your comments below and tell us more about MonaLisa. Also, nominate yourself to be our next Naija We Dey Beauty of the Week by commenting below and introducing yourself. You can also send an email to naijawedeyblog@gmail.com with your picture and achievements and why you should win. Good luck people!

KAREN IGHO IS CANCER- FREE



It's great to hear this good news from Karen Igbo. Few months ago, Nigerian media personality, actress and big brother Africa amplified winner announced that she had cancer and will be undergoing treatment soon. Recently she announced on her twitter page that her treatment was successful and she is now cancer free, giving thanks to God.

LATEST ON TECHNOLOGY: WHATSAPP

Whatsapp is working on adding free voice-calling to its text messaging app for Iphone and Andriod phones.The company has taken the speed and efficiency of text messaging to voice. Whatsapp was recently acquired by facebook for 19 billion dollars.Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of facebook, described five year old Whatsapp as an "incredibly valuable" service that was well on its way to connecting 1 billion people around the world.  Whatsapp is a mobile messaging app. it uses internet to send messages to friends and family.

NEW SONG: BOTHER YOU BY D'BANJ (OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK OF HALF OF A YELLOW SUN)

Bother you by Dbanj is the official soundtrack of hollywood movie adaption of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's half of a yellow sun. Bother you is a love song inspired by the love story of the movie. Mtn subscribers can get D'banj bother you callertune by texting 030711 to 4100. Welldone Koko master. Click above to watch the video.  Enjoy!

Monday 24 February 2014

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: AYE BY DAVIDO

Naija We Dey video of the week is Aye by Davido. Davido has done a good job here. He potrays our rich Nigerian  culture the yoruba  tribe of Nigeria.  The video potrays a softer mushy side of Davido as he sings about his love interest. Welldone Davido! You are on your way to winning an award on this one and to you, our fellow Naija We Dey readers click on the picture above to watch the video and leave your comments below.  Enjoy!

WHO WORE IT BETTER: RIPEI OSHAKA VS MERCY JOHNSON

Battle of pretty ladies. Who wore Dorathy Perkins purple lace dress better? First runner up Miss Africa Lugansk Ripei Oshaka wore the dress for an awards dinner in Ukraine while popular Nigerian actress Mercy Johnson wore hers for a photoshoot. Comment and let us know what you think?

STYLE OF THE WEEK: VERONICA ODEKA OUR STYLE GURU

Meet Veronica Odeka, our style guru sizzling in happy colours orange and yellow both matched up perfectly to suit her skin tone...

NEW SERIES: MARRIED TO THE GAME ON EBONYLIFE TV

Married to the game series premiering  March 1st 2014 exclusive to EbonyLife TV Dstv channel 165. Watch the happy, excited and in love newly wed Vincent and Gloria Coker  headed towards a blissful future together but a dark cloud hovers over their honeymoon dreams when they run over a mysterious stranger as they return from their wedding reception. Watch out for it....

NEW HORIZON COMING SOON ON EBONYLIFE TV

New horizon is a short film featuring our EbonyLife TV: Screen Divas. Its a gripping tale of four abused women. Watch how the four women overcome abuse by finding courage in themselves and each other. This show premieres in march on EbonyLife TV dstv channel 165. New horizon is a project done by our Screen Divas Kate Henshaw, Rita Dominic, Uche Jombo and Funke Akindele. Watch out for it...