“You Will Be The Death Of Me.”

sir Gawain and the Green Knight for my Monthly monster drawing ♥ I think I am going to use this one as Christmas postcard :3

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About an hour ago, I was in Walmart looking for my conditioner because today is wash day for my hair. As I’m looking for my product, this older white lady approaches me and she says, “Excuse me, miss. Please don’t be offended by this.” And usually when white people tell me not to be offended, 9 times out of 10, whatever they are about to say is going to be offensive af.

Anyway, she follows it up with, “My husband and I just recently won our custody battle with our foster daughter and she means the world to us. She’s a beautiful African American girl and her hair looks a lot like yours. But I’m afraid because I don’t know what to do with her hair. It’s a lot different from mines and our other children and we are at a total loss. I’ve tried looking up the YouTube videos and my husband went to the braiding shops so they can teach him how to properly braid her hair, but he’s still pretty new and it will be a while before he gets used to it. Do you have any tips you can give me? If you don’t have the time, it’s okay, really! I just needed a little advice because I want her to look beautiful.”

Y’all. swear I almost started crying on aisle 6. So for the last 30 minutes, I spent my time talking to her and what products to use and how to properly detangle and comb her hair with the proper tools and what not to do with natural hair. And I showed her a bunch of easier to follow natural hair tutorials on YouTube and saved them for her. (I also had to create a YouTube account for her so she could save it for later.) but omfg, she was so sweet, and I could tell that she listened to every single thing I had to say and she took little notes on her little notepad.

And what really filled my heart was the fact that her husband actually taking classes from African braiding shops. And she showed me a picture of him wearing a little sweater vest and loafers in a little shop surrounded by beautiful black women showing him how to braid black hair and even the lady he’s braiding on is guiding his hands. And omfg. Bless these old white people and their black daughter who I know have new loving parents because they are willing to step out of their comfort zone just to make her feel and look beautiful.

I really hope our paths cross again one day, Mrs Cicilia. 💖💕

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Iman Meskini for Costume Magazine

Music Spotlight: FLETCHER

FLETCHER (@findingxfletcher) might just be one of the hardest working musical artists we’ve seen in a while. This New Jersey native has earned every single one of her 100 million streams on Spotify, worked for every spot on stage at major festivals like Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo, and kept releasing new music while she was at it. The kicker? She did it all while finding the time to graduate from NYU’s Clive Davis Institue for Recorded Music. How she managed to find time for our little interview, we’ll never know.

Who influences your music the most? 

I grew up listening to pretty much just Bob Marley and Celine Dion because it’s the only music my parents had in the house; a bit of Bruce Springsteen since my mom grew up in Asbury Park, NJ. That was it honestly. But I’m really happy about this, they still remain major influences for me.

What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve received so far? 

Paul McCartney told me to “be great,” and I really want to tattoo that on my face. But in all seriousness, I think the best advice I’ve received is “if it’s not fun, don’t do it.” I’m just having a lot of fun right now traveling the world and meeting those who’ve been there since day one and the new people just now hearing my music for the first time.

When it comes to celebrating women, how do you think artists can continue to support women from all backgrounds? 

We must celebrate inclusivity, diversity, and intersectionality. I hope to empower and uplift other women in the industry through various creative partnerships and collaborations and through my music, and I hope others will do the same.

Dream collaboration and why?

 I love the honest, simple storytelling of Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, Kacey Musgraves, and Lorde. I would love to work with any of them.

Lighting round! Describe each of the following in one word: Who you are, what you value the most, and what you’d be if you were a food item.

Empath, Connection, Nacho.

If you were to star in a TV show, what would it be about and what kind of character would you play? 

I’d definitely want to be a superhero, maybe like Wonder Woman. I have my black belt in Karate, so I feel like I’m qualified for the job.

Want to hear more from FLETCHER? Yeah, we know you do. Follow her at @findingxfletcher , check out her official video for Undrunk here and then swing on over here to listen to her music.

(This interview has been edited for clarity.)

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