Beauty and Health
Meet The Cosplayer Slaying Our Favorite Characters With Black Girl Magic
In a world full of beauty bloggers and self-appointed influencers, there’s one name you’d be silly to let slip through your radar; that’s 21-year-old lover of all things kawaii, @KieraPlease.
Known for simply slaying colorful, fun and eclectic looks and bringing bubbly personas to life, she’s enjoying a wave of newfound excitement in the world of cosplay.
Back in February, in honor of Black History Month, Please began participating in Chaka Cumberbatch-Tinsley’s (@princessology) #28DaysofBlackCosplay Instagram hashtag .
With the goal of broadening the scope on cosplay inclusion, Please explains in an Instagram post she wanted to “show that not only can you be black and cosplay, but honor some bad*ss characters of color as well.”
The Virginia-born Aquarius began pulling handfulls of clever looks together, ranging from Doug’s Judie Funnie, to Bob’s Burgers’ Louisse Belcher, to The Proud Family’s Penny Proud all the way to iconic Studio Ghibli characters and even more obscure Disney characters like Princess ‘Kida’ Kidagakash and Chief Mehanic Audrey Ramirez from Atlantis.
Please told the Huffington Post, “To me [the hashtag] shows diversity within the cosplay community, adding, “You don’t need to look exactly like the character or have the same body shape.”
On the topic of POC in cosplay, Cumberbatch-Tinsley told Black Girl Nerds in 2015:
“As Black nerds, it’s important for us to see images of each other. Things are starting to get better, but we still have so few characters of color in our comics, video games, anime, manga and movies. It can be disheartening, never seeing anyone who looks like you in the media you love so much.
Being able to physically see Black cosplayers out at cons, literally wearing their fandom on their sleeves is just so intensely satisfying on a level I may not ever be able to accurately describe.”
Embodying the personas of character we’ve grown to know and love, Kiera adds to the conversation …
Please read original article- Meet The Cosplayer Slaying Our Favorite Characters With Black Girl Magic
