Yaba Blay

Yaba Blay is a Ghanaian-American professor, scholar-activist, public speaker, cultural worker, and consultant.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] She is originally from Ghana, West Africa, and was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Her scholarship, work, and practice center on the lived experiences of Black women and girls, with a particular focus on identity politics and beauty practices. A social media activist, she has launched several viral campaigns, including Locs of Love, #PrettyPeriod,[11] and #ProfessionalBlackGirl, in her multi-platform digital community.

In 2012, Blay served as a producer on CNN's television documentary, "Who is Black in America?". She has since been named one of today's leading Black voices by 'The Root 100', and Essence Magazine's 'Woke 100.' She has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, BET, MSNBC, BBC, and NPR and her work has been featured in The New York Times, EBONY, Essence, Fast Company, The Philadelphia Inquirer, ColorLines, and The Root.[12] Her commentary is featured in A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond, a permanent installation exhibited in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

She is also the author of the award-winning One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race.[13]

  1. ^ Sunny. "Shifting the lens on race". ColorLines.com. Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  2. ^ "One Drop, But Many Views on Race". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ^ Blay, Yaba Amgborale. All the 'Africans' are Men, all the "Sistas" are "American," but Some of Us Resist: Realizing African Feminism (s) as an Africological Research Methodology. Journal of Pan African Studies 2.2 (2008).
  4. ^ Blay, Yaba Amgborale. Ahoofe Kasa!: Skin Bleaching and the Function of Beauty Among Ghanaian Women. JENdA: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies 14 (2010).
  5. ^ Charles, Christopher AD, and Yaba Amgborale Blay. Editorial: Skin Bleaching and Global White Supremacy. Journal of Pan African Studies 4.4 (2011).
  6. ^ Davies, Carole Elizabeth Boyce, ed. Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. Vol. 1. Abc-clio, 2008.
  7. ^ Norwood, Kimberly Jade, ed. Color Matters: Skin Tone Bias and the Myth of a Postracial America. Routledge, 2013.
  8. ^ Tomečková, Lucie. Is Black Beautiful?: A Comparative Analysis of Modern Motivations for Skin Whitening. (2011).
  9. ^ "Yaba Blay: White supremacist would be black under one-drop rule - CNN.com". CNN. 20 November 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Dr. Yaba Blay on shifting the lens on race - Radio Times - WHYY". Whyy.org. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  11. ^ Oprah website
  12. ^ Unitarian Universalist Association website
  13. ^ Princeton University website