Singer TiKa Is Celebrating the Existence of Fat Black Women

TiKa Simone, a singer based in Toronto, loves her body, and she wants the world to hear her when she says that. TiKa and four other black women took part in a photo shoot in Toronto’s Edwards Gardens, all of them wearing white and refusing to hide their bodies—society’s absurdly narrow definition of beauty be damned.

“We are everything the world hates,” reads the caption of a photo TiKa posted on Instagram. “Fat. Black. Woman. And yet, we exist. Unapologetically and without shame. F*** you. We love on ourselves.”

Much of the plus-size body-love movement is spearheaded by white women like Iskra Lawrence, Ashley Graham, and Tess Holliday. While their voices and actions are important, it’s also crucial that women of color and other marginalized groups can embrace body love for themselves, too.

TiKa, who hails from Toronto, came up with the idea for the shoot, which was photographed by Anthony Gebrehiwot. She explained to Yahoo Lifestyle that the images actually tie into an idea for her next music video. “I had a vision of black women around me singing alongside me, but I wanted them to look like me as I’ve never seen fat black bodies together dressed in all white,” she said. “It’s so angelic and beautiful and soft. So I asked my beautiful fat femme sisters to join me.”

She continued, “This photo shoot was a major ‘f*** you’ to anyone and everyone who has ever tried …

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