Kyemah McEntyre dons a dress inspired by her African heritage to prom and ends up prom queen, a style icon, and a voice for bullied teens all the same night. McEntyre has also sparked an intense debate about whether black women should pay homage to their culture by having natural hair or by wearing clothes made from African fabric.
Kyemah McEntyre‘s dress has managed to break the Internet. Kyemah McEntyre is an 18-year-old student from Cecily Tyson School of Performing Arts in East Orange, New Jersey, who is deep into Afrocentrism, which can:
“be seen as an African-American inspired ideology that manifests an affirmation of themselves in a Eurocentric-dominated society, commonly by conceptualizing a glorified heritage in terms of distinctly African, foreign origins (where foreign is anything not indigenous to the African continent). It often denies or minimizes European cultural influences while accenting historical African civilizations that independently accomplished a significant level of cultural and technological development.”
Because she decided to endorse her African roots by having an Afro and wearing African-inspired jewelry, she was often bullied and mocked. For senior prom, she designed her own Afro-centric prom dress, which featured a V-neck, Asoebi designs with African print.
The dress killed the competition, earned her the prom queen title and went on to break the Internet with hundreds of likes. Kemah McEntyre, who is also a painter, shared numerous pictures of her stunning dress and explained:
“This is for always being labeled as, “ugly” or “angry”. Thank God, stereotypes are just opinions. – Kyemah McEntyre.”
McEntyre, who will be attending Parsons School of Design in September, also shared a lengthy post explaining why she decided to design her own dress.
“I’m Kyemah McEntyre, I am 18 years old and I am undoubtedly of African Descent. As an artist I have a completely different point of view compared to most individuals. I am extremely analytical and observant. Throughout the world, we have people who do not notice each others essence and humanity. We Stunt our collective spiritual growth by allowing assumptions and stereotypes to cloud our mind and thus our physical reality. We let these negative ideas get the best of us, and in turn a world of isolation is manifested by our lack of sensitivity and desire to sympathize with each other. This results in a world in which people live within the confines of their own space, isolated from each other and separated from the rest of the world.Sometimes we get trapped in our own prejudice ways. We don’t notice how the idea of a particular type of person changes the way we live our lives.”
She went on to say:
“The most creative people are the ones who step out of their comfort zone and take advantage of the world around them. My abilities as an artist allows me to experience the benefits that versatility fosters. Being exposed to all kinds of people and cultures is the muse for my artwork. I am an aspiring artist who is very passionate about the connection between art and the world. I believe that in order for society to gain a wider horizon, we have to be willing to acknowledge other people from differences, beliefs, morals, and values. I would like to take this moment to say that you have to understand who you are because if you leave that space open, you leave your identity in the hands of society. Don’t let anyone define you. Beautiful things happen when you take pride in yourself. #blackgirlsrock #kyebreaktheinternet.”
A majority of people are praising Kyemah McEntyre for her dress, while others want her to accept the fact that she is American, not African, and she needs to look at the future, not the past. One commentator blasted her saying:
“While it’s a worthy goal to engage in self discovery, tracing back centuries and centuries to a land you are far removed from doesn’t seem to be the place to find yourself or to give meaning and justification to the black person you are today. It’s been hundreds of years, one would think at some point a given people will cultivate some sense of self that isn’t entirely toxic, self sabotaging or pretentious. It isn’t one extreme or the other.”
Another one added:
“I see non–AA blacks get dragged all the time for appropriating AA culture (like AAVE). African americans have created their own culture witj all their various music genres, hip hop, etc. Her use of the fabric isn’t approprition but acting like he did something revoulutionary as saying Iggy Azalea is revolutionary.”
What are your thoughts on Kyemah McEntyre’s dress?
