Niki Groove is a french illustrator born and raised in France with a die hard passion for art illustration that celebrates the beauty of black culture. This summer #blackgirlmagic became a popular hashtag along with many others that served to recognize, honor, and celebrate the many contributions of black female innovators and inspire the generation to follow.
Earlier this year, a USA Today article noted that 2014 served as the ‘best’ yet ‘worst’ times for black women in Hollywood. The suggestion was that while there was more appearance of black women on the television screen there was a relatively ‘slow progression’ in positive roles and images that influenced younger black girls aiming for success.
” Black roles are more often limited to one-dimensional stereotypes or eliminated from the picture altogether. ”
Shonda Rhimes came under fire from the New York Times for re-casting the angry black woman narrative in ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Scandal’, and ‘How To Get Away With Murder’. The same occurrence for Ava Duvernay [SELMA] who was the first black female director nominated for a Golden Globe but she lost out to Richard Linklater for ‘Boyhood’ and then snubbed at the 2015 Oscars – says USA Today.
While the author alluded to a few truths of the inner workings of Hollywood’s negative stigma of black women, there’s been much progress in the black women movement. Thanks to the many vloggers, and bloggers of the world, the natural hair movement has help re-defined black pride among brown girls everywhere; with many boldly wearing their ‘natural kinks’ [short or long] in a variety of styles.
When notable celebs like Viola Davis, Lupita Nyongo, Traci Ellis Ross, Shanola Hampton, Solange, YaYa Dacosta, grace the red carpet in their natural hair attire free of wigs and weaves its equally significant in the promotion of self-love to black girls everywhere.
And we have not even scratched the surface with the many non-profit mentor programs aim specifically to uplift and inspire brown girls nationwide, along with popular fashion trends like the African dashiki shirts, tribal pattern clothing, and the faux locs hair trend that became a summer must have and ‘on the do list’ of women celebrities of all shades of color.
Niki’s Groove preserves the ‘Black Girl Magic’ anthem through art illustrations by reminding black girls that it is okay to be themselves, love themselves, embrace their gifts and cultural richness, be whomever they choose to be, and be fearless in the pursuit of their dreams.
Niki’s Groove art celebrates the accomplishments of black women in every arena; at the workplace, in love and relationships, in parenting, in sisterhood, in politics, in hollywood, and in the social realm.
The good news here is that the ‘game changers’ of the world are not waiting for Hollywood’s stamp of approval; they’re making their own rules, paying it forward both on and off the screen, and creating impact in a major way.
Take a look at some of her amazing art work below. For more about Nikis Groove or to purchase her work click HERE .
