Cette semaine c’est la bloggeuse qui est derrière CIAAFRIQUE un blog qui parle de la mode africaine qui nous fait l’honneur de nous rendre visite, en anglais s’il vous plait.
La Mode Africaine
First of all I would like to thank you for having me. La mode Africaine I don t even know where to start. We African have come a long way. African fashion is very beautiful. I got to tell you I’m as guilty as many of you by not wearing clothes from my country. One of the reason might be because it is too cold out here. I have realized lately by doing my researches that there are plenty of African designers waiting to be discovered. There are so Many good designers in Africa today, but yet we are under represented in the world of fashion. Designers like Oumou Sy, Alphady to name a few opened the doors for all of the young designers. Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta and many other western designers have used Africa as inspirations for their clothing lines. The thing that kills me is that when these European designers create let me say steal our fabric to make their designs everybody is all over it even though is cost thousand of dollars. A good African designer will make the same exact dress and would not get the attention of anyone. My dream is that African fashion is represented in the New York fashion week. This would become a reality one day since korto the Liberian girl from project runway was just a second from getting on top. I would like to be able to go to the stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom and pick up clothes from African designers. By the way if you are looking for latest news in fashion or different designers can hit my blog.
Women and blogging
Women are definitely doing there thing today in the blogging industry. In fact I was inspired by many blogs made by African women like Bella naija, Ladybrille, and yaye niareba to name few. Blogs make it easy for us women express ourselves. Blogging give us a voice and help us connect with others people that share the same views. I believe that half of the bloggers online are women.
Aminata Traore
After My mother she is one of the women I look up to. She is one of the strongest, vibrant, real and remarkable women I have ever known. I wish there was more people like her in my country. She has done things for Mali that none of the president were able to do since our independence. My proudest moment was when published her book l’Afrique humiliée where she criticized the racist comments of the president of France. I thought that yes she is a woman and yes she stood up for her own beliefs which is something that all of us should do with no fear. Sometimes I hope she could be our president because she will be the one person that would think about her country not her own greed. On a lighter note let s not forget about her fashion side. She is very fashionable; I always used to tell my mother that she is different from everybody. She has her own way to dress let‘s say that her sense of style is fabulous.
Integration
I am an African woman living in a North America; one thing that is part of my daily life here is contrast: skin color contrast, religious contrast, contrast on values and customs. When I am asked about the word ‘integration’, contrast is the first concept that comes to mind as without contrast, there would be little to no need for integration. One of the many ways to look at integration is how a foreigner integrates a different society than his/her original one.
Living in Africa, attending school is a privilege while in America, it’s common to see students dropping out from College to pursue what they believe in; the American dream which for many is starting from nothing and achieving a much better quality of life. This particular belief is a NO NO where I came from; I could have never walked to my parents and let them know that I wanted to quit school to pursue my dreams. When integrating in North America, it forces one to think outside the box and to assume a new way approaching situations: all barriers of race, color, and ethnicity must be dropped in order to take full advantage of the society. Coming from a place where 95% of the population shares the same religious beliefs, one must learn to understand and respect people with different beliefs as every religion has millions of followers in North America.
Looking at integrating a different society, the finances of the new society are important to understand. Most countries in Africa do not have a stock exchange or do not promote financial success through personal investments using portfolios and financial planners as its taboo to speak with others about one’s financial situation. Similarly, North American society is mostly based on achievements through credits which are necessary to buy a house, a car, school, in short a living. In the south, most of those are paid using savings and mostly cash, investments vehicles are mostly multiple houses generating rental income. I know I am a bit stepping out here but I could not finish writing without talking about the corruption and the greed that is tearing most African countries apart. If only the leaders were thinking of the countries instead of themselves. Sometimes while joking with my husband I tell him that maybe we need a person like Kim Jong hill for our countries to stand up and work. I will leave you with a question to think about.
What ever happen to all the aids that our African gets? I know it ain’t going to the population.
To conclude, integration is a necessary step for foreigners; while some of them decide to overlook the process, the simple fact of rejecting it proves that they are thinking about it; it’s safe to say that those and/or their offspring will definitely integrate in due time. AS African we have come a long way and we are in our way to be the future.
Africa
Africa is beautiful, unique, blessed, strong, promising, hope, diverse, powerful, culture, pure, magical loving, home, empowering, future. I could go on and on but I would just stop here to tell you that there is no word to describe my loving continent.
God bless Africa
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May God bless you too!
Your blog is wonderful!
Reading you is refreshing because it means that there are people fighting to promote african style.
you certainly heard about Nigerian Fashion Show, happening each year (except this year I think, I didn’t heard about it). A great opportunity to show to the world african creativity and professionalism.