Post by AgbongboAkala on May 26, 2016 20:18:20 GMT
What happened after a teacher told this high schooler an African print dress was tacky for prom
Teens are SLAYING at prom these days, and this prom story is no different. After a white administrator told Makalaya Zanders of Cleveland that an Ankara print dress would be “tacky” and “wasn’t really something you wear to prom,” according to ABC News, she went ahead and wore it anyway to make a point. And the dress, designed by Ohio-based designer/wizard DeAndré Crenshaw, is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.
Zanders said on Instagram of her decision to wear the dress:
“Being someone who loves our culture and African glamorous style , me and @indelible_dc [the designer] decided to take the Ankara dress and put a twist on it. Little did I know it came out more beautiful, then I could’ve ever imagine!! My dress was to make a point. That African style is beautiful. That I am comfortable with my Melanin and roots. And finally that there’s nothing like Black girl Magic❤️”
Zanders told ABC News the the teacher later apologized, and that she harbors no bad blood towards him, adding that all she wanted to do was empower young African American girls. “I was told when I was younger I was too dark, too this, too that,” she said. “I didn’t grow up with black Barbies besides Brandy. As a young girl, I thought I didn’t fit that standard, traditional definition of beauty.”
Heartbreaking.
The designer also took to Instagram to explain why this dress is so meaningful to him [sic]:
“I never expected this to go viral, I just knew I had to make my customer happy. Its hard turning a passion into an business because everything is about money and exposure now a days. Its not about that to me, its about the message. It was not about the caucassion teacher that said it was tacky. I really did not care,Im just a diverse person and color shape or size does not matter to me,Its the spirit.”
We LOVE this dress and the message behind it.
Yahoo
