Powerful women
Posted on October 28 2020
SENEGALESE WOMEN IN POWER
Coumba Gawlo Seck was born on January 29, 1972, in Tivaouane, in the Thiès region of Senegal. She comes from a family known as Gawlo (griot). It is from her mother that Coumba inherited her distinctive voice.
At the age of 14, she won the "Golden Voice of Senegal" competition with a song written by her father in tribute to Nelson Mandela.
She was discovered and produced by Senegalese producer Ibrahima Sylla when she was 20 years old.
She has received no fewer than 10 awards.
In addition to being a talented and successful singer, Coumba is a committed activist. Throughout her career, she has worked to help the most vulnerable. She joined Les Enfoirés in 1999 and is also the director of the Lumière pour l'Enfance Foundation, where she advocates for sick children and women's rights.
This commitment to the cause of children and women led her to be appointed "goodwill ambassador" of the United Nations Development Programme UNDP.
On her initiative, she organized concerts and events to work for peace.
Indeed, she traveled with the UNDP to the city of Bouaké in Ivory Coast, where there had been clashes between rebels and government forces, to play her music and try to raise awareness among the inhabitants in order to establish lasting peace between the North and the South.
She also organized a benefit concert for Haiti called Africa for Haiti on March 6, 2010.
Coumba Gawlo Seck didn't just ride the wave of success; she used her fame and talent to do good. She dedicated her entire career to helping the most vulnerable – a true modern-day heroine!
"The Melanin Goddess"
Khoudia Diop is a 23-year-old Senegalese model who has nicknamed herself "melanin goddess" due to her very dark skin tone.
Khoudia was mocked a lot during her childhood "because" of her ebony complexion. She suffered a great deal, but reassured and encouraged by her sister, she defied the odds at 17 while living in Paris, becoming a model.
Since then, she's landed a string of contracts, each one different from the last. Recently, she even signed on as the face of Fenty Beauty, the makeup brand of the famous singer Rihanna.
She often said that she couldn't find foundations that matched her skin tone; she felt the cosmetics industry didn't adequately represent the range of possible skin tones.
"Sometimes, on photo shoot sets, the makeup artists don't have the right shade for me . And it makes me feel like the industry doesn't represent me. I don't think that's fair, because everyone wants to feel represented."
But today it's different; more and more brands have understood that there's a multitude of skin tones and that you can't just rely on a few shades. Thanks to people like Khoudia Diop, the world is changing and attitudes are evolving for the better.
"Sometimes, on photo shoot sets, the makeup artists don't have the right shade for me . And it makes me feel like the industry doesn't represent me. I don't think that's fair, because everyone wants to feel represented."
— Khoudia Diop
Aïcha Ndaw is a 23-year-old influencer of Senegalese origin. She was born and lives in Paris. She returned to Dakar at the age of 14 to finish high school. She then completed her final year of high school in London. She went back to Senegal for two years. After those two years, she returned to Paris where she began studying fashion design.
She has become the go-to influencer for 18-30 year olds.
She currently has 623K followers on Instagram, her editorial focus is fashion and beauty.
Aicha is independent, ambitious, and determined.
We collaborated with her last year, here are some photos:
Aicha is wearing the MAMA GETZNER bazin in salmon color.
Want to know more about Aïcha? We invite you to check out her interview on the blog!