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In this week’s episode of the Black Girl Nerds podcast, we welcome Iyanla Vanzant and actor Aml Ameen.

Segment 1: Iyanla Vanzant is best known as the host of the hit OWN series Iyanla, Fix My Life, which recently completed its 10th and final season. From welfare mother to New York Times best-selling author, from the Brooklyn projects to Emmy Award winner, from broken pieces to peace, Iyanla is one of the country’s most celebrated writers and public speakers, and she’s among the most influential, socially engaged, and acclaimed spiritual life coaches of our time.

Host: Ryanne

Segment 2: Aml Ameen plays Martin Luther King Jr. in Netflix’s film Rustin, directed by George C. Wolfe and produced by former President Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions. The film follows civil rights activist Bayard Rustin as he organizes the 1963 March on Washington and as you may know, it’s already getting a ton of awards buzz this season.

Host: Jamie

Music by: Sammus
Edited by: Jamie Broadnax

The internet was ablaze when Balenciaga released its latest product, and Swedish retailer IKEA got in on the action. 

The luxury brand recently debuted a beige, terry-cotton towel skirt with a price tag of $925. The towel-skirt buttons at the waistline and is embroidered with the Balenciaga logo in the front.  According to the designer’s website,  the knee-length unisex garment comes in small and medium sizes.  

In response, IKEA took to their Instagram  page to display their version of the exorbitantly priced towel-skirt. The retailer posted a  photo  of a male model wearing  the VINARN bath towel which, according to its website, retails at $9.99 USD.  The man appeared to be mimicking the Balenciaga model’s post while wearing a similar black hoodie and sunglasses while holding a blue Ikea shopping bag.  

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by IKEA UK (@ikeauk)

Social media commented on the retailer’s tongue-in-cheek “advertisement.”  

“I actually cannot cope. This is ICONIC,” wrote one follower. 

One commenter offered some words of advice for Balenciaga.

“Lol, @balenciaga Ikea could teach you a lot. Towel skirts don’t have to cost hundreds of dollars ” 

This is not the first time the Swedish brand has made fun of Balenciaga’s pricey fashions. In 2017, the Italian brand released a blue tote that costing $2,145 that looked similar to IKEA’s reusable shopping bag, which costs 99 cents.  The home goods retailer released a print ad entitled “How to identify an original Ikea Frakta bag.”

“How to identify an original Ikea Frakta bag:

1) Shake it. If it rustles, it’s the real deal. 

2) Multifunctional. It can carry hockey gear, bricks, and even water. 

3) Throw it in the dirt. A true Frakta is simply rinsed off with a garden hose when dirty. 

4) Fold it. Are you able to fold it to the size of a small purse? If the answer is yes, congratulations. 

5) Look inside. The original has an authentic Ikea tag.

6) Price tag. Only $0.99.”

When it comes to trolling, Ikea doesn’t discriminate. When rapper Kanye West expressed interest in working with the retailer  in 2016, Ikea Australia responded via Facebook with an unserious collaboration “idea.” 

A billion dollars is a great deal of money, but being labeled a billionaire doesn’t mean you’ll make it onto the 2023 Forbes 400 list.

In October, Forbes revealed the 400 people on its annual list of wealthiest people based on net worth as of September 8, 2023, as well as other factors listed here.

The person with the lowest net worth is listed at $2.9 billion, which is slightly higher than last year’s, whose net worth was $2.7 billion. According to Forbes, you can still be among the 350 billionaires in the United States on the outside looking in.

There are some notable names that you would expected to be on the list, but who did not qualify.

One is Oprah Winfrey. Having built her empire after starring on The Oprah Winfrey Show for 25 seasons (from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011), she is worth “just” $2.8 billion. After being on the top 400 list for 25 straight years, she hasn’t made enough in the past three years to make the cut.

The richest and first hip-hop recording artist (and fifth Black American) to have a net worth of a billion dollars, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter missed the list by having a net worth of $2.7 billion. The most nominated male artist in Grammy history started building his empire after taking himself out of the streets and making records.

Tiger Woods, perhaps one of the most celebrated golfers in history, although worth $1 billion, also missed the list. So did the NBA’s only active billionaire, LeBron James. Coincidentally, they are the only two active-playing athletes who are billionaires. Magic Johnson, who didn’t make the billionaires list until it was official on October 29, also didn’t make the top 400.

Afiya Mbilishaka is a hairdresser who also happens to be a clinical psychologist, a role that many hairdressers (and barbers) have informally served, particularly in the Black community. Mbilishaka told Well And Good that what sparked her interest in exploring the connection was a bout of indecisiveness before she left for college. Her aunt encouraged her to do both, referring to Mbilishaka’s conflict between studying hair and psychology, and the result was her own company, PsychoHairapy. 

Mbilishaka says that Black women’s mental health can be assisted through conversations with hairdressers, telling Well And Good, “To engage Black women on a cultural level, mental health providers must acknowledge the significance of hair and make use of the existing social support of hairstylists, the natural helpers in the community.”

She earned a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and was a full-time therapist at Columbia University. Then, she was a professor at the University of the District of Columbia. Mbilishaka is a natural hairstylist and partners with N Natural Hair Studio in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Mbilishaka also explained the purpose of her company, saying, “The purpose (of) PsychoHairapy is to direct attention to treatment modalities that culturally and spiritually fit within the lives of Black women. To reach large numbers of this population, PsychoHairapy is centered on addressing the psychological needs of people who are often neglected by offering accessible options in the safe space of the hair salon.”

Mbilishaka offers her students a 12-hour, skills-based training program that goes over the history of Black hair, how to see, understand, and empathize with mental illness signs, and how to respond to client concerns of the mental health variety. Mbilishaka says that the program is unique, often leading to breakthroughs once hairstylists realize how vital they are to their communities.

“Hairstylists who have taken the course have become emotional over realizing their work could have such a far-reaching impact,” Mbilishaka said. “There is no mental health training in cosmetology school. Therefore, hairstylists appreciate getting the language to process the emotions that come up in their chair. Hairstylists [also] love learning about the history of our hair in particular, and enjoy practicing techniques of…reframing some of the concerns coming up in their clients’ lives.”

This type of mental healthcare is not only growing in the U.S. but also in parts of Africa. Though not associated with Mbilishaka’s practice, Tele da Silveira is one of 150 women trained in mental healthcare in West and Central African cities. Hairdressers like da Silveira, who has a salon in Lomé, Togo’s capital, are being trained to ask open-ended questions to their clients during hairdressing sessions, identify signs of distress, and offer emotional support in areas where mental health counseling is scarce and expensive.

“People need attention in this world,” da Silveira told The New York Times. “They need to talk.”

This initiative aims to address the mental health gap in developing countries and has been particularly effective in West and Central Africa, where hair salons serve as community hubs.

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