Melanin Rich: Nyakim Gatwech & Her Journey To Unapologetic Blackness

When you visit Nyakim Gatwech’s Instagram, you’ll first notice her many captivating images revealing her unique dark skin as well as her motivational captions, inspiring her more than 300k followers to embrace self-love regardless of your eccentricities.

Named “Queen of Dark” by her fans, the South Sudan model (born in Ethiopia) became an international sensation through the power of the Web for many reasons. Initially, she gained recognition after posting an image of herself posed in between two light-skinned Black models. The image, representing the various shades of melanin, was from a photoshoot in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she currently resides. Photos from the ‘Different Melanin’ shoot, captured by photographer and creative director Isaac West, went viral quickly.

But it wasn’t until after a bold Uber driver asked her about bleaching her skin for $10,000 that she amassed a large fan base from the coverage of her baffling experience on just about every major platform, including Yahoo and Teen Vogue, to name a few. Nyakim’s clever response to the question from the Uber driver was simply, “I would never do that. I consider my skin to be a blessing,” sparking dialogue about societal views on beauty standards. Her fans quickly reminded her that her stunning …

Please read original article- MELANIN RICH: NYAKIM GATWECH & HER JOURNEY TO UNAPOLOGETIC BLACKNESS