In this week’s episode of ‘What’s Underneath: Black Voices’ featuring Olu Fann of Earthgang, he shares the conflicts of identity on his journey to stardom. If you agree that facades separate us and being radically honest brings us together, please take a moment to subscribe to our podcast and share this video with any friends or family who could benefit from understanding that they are enough as they are. New Episodes drop Thursdays! FOLLOW STYLELIKEU: Join the movement on Patreon: https://bit.ly/3sa8Mxw​ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3q32JsZ​ Facebook: https://bit.ly/3bl0LA7​ Newsletter: https://bit.ly/35nTMCC “I think I'm dealing with the grief of losing a part of myself or birthing a part of myself,” says Rapper Olu of Earthgang. Olu talks about the intense conflicts he experiences with his burgeoning success as a musician and the hardship that comes with leaving family, friends and community behind when life pulls you toward your purpose. The death of his beloved father, who showed up for everyone, took the ‘training wheels’ off and further propelled Olu to believe in himself and his artistic calling. Trying to reconcile what was ingrained in him throughout his formative years is that poverty does not equal piety, and that being a man does not mean you only dress in suits and jerseys and baggy jeans, but rather you can be rich and benevolent and every bit of a provider while wearing wraps and gold everywhere. “I think groups are made stronger by people who know themselves and put themselves first, and then bring that back into the group that ultimately allows you to open up more doors for more people.”

What's Underneath with StyleLikeU

Reckonings Along His Journey to Stardom: Musician Olu of Earthgang

Watch Yves' Full Video on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKllJo8ECIQ&t=8s&ab_channel=StyleLikeU 

How Queer Activist Yves Fought For His Life and is Now Fighting For Yours

Watch Bea's Full Video on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5PNqnFpQw&ab_channel=StyleLikeU

Bea Dixon is A Boss Who's Embracing Her Masculinity & Liberating The Vagina

To support Richie’s work to abolish prisons and patriarchy, please donate to Success Stories here: https://www.successstoriesprogram.org/Watch Richie's Full Video Here:

How Richie Reseda Found the Courage to Choose Himself Over Patriarchal Prison Culture

Ceyenne Doroshow is Black, Trans, Powerful and Forever

How Leon Ford Transformed Being Paralyzed by Police Brutality Into Love and Purpose

Check out Kiersey's What's Underneath video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHIZympOlLc&t=21s&ab_channel=StyleLikeU

Actress Kiersey Clemons Accepts Her Mental Health Diagnosis and Stands Up To Racism in Hollywood

Check out Janaya's full video on YouTube here: 

BLM Activist Janaya Khan is The Future’s Brightest Light & Wants You to Know You Are Too

Check out Janaya's Full Video on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vmpxcq_XZg&ab_channel=StyleLikeU

We’re Back with What’s Underneath: Black Voices!

In this week’s episode of our podcast, former Fashion Stylist turned Radical Dance Teacher, Kate Shela, wants to be seen for exactly who she is, no matter the “risk.” She exchanged her career in fashion and the dream of being a professional dancer (both paths that relied on achieving unattainable ideals of external perfection) for the rewards of healing herself and others as a teacher of the legendary 5 Rhythms dynamic movement practice, a method of dance that allows people to embody their whole, messy, imperfect selves. In keeping with her courage to tear off masks, Kate dared herself to see herself when she chopped off her hair on both sides and let it go grey, a turning point that had her feeling truly beautiful for the first time. Today, at 48, Kate feels as though she is just beginning, as she steps into the vulnerability of launching her own form of dance classes and immersions called The 360 Emergence: “The work is about how to help people come out of their own closet, their own spaces of shame, into a space of sharing and thriving.” From Fashion Stylist to Radical Dance Teacher, the topics covered in this episode include: Working in London’s fashion industry during the creatively expansive 1980’s Making the change from telling stories through clothes to telling stories through dance Overcoming negative self-talk Dance and creative outlets as saviors and overcoming shame How shaving your hair changes people’s perception of you Empowered at 48 years old and embracing gray hair Stepping into your calling by taking a risk The “problem” of being “too much” and not fitting into a box Being of service in your profession Starting your own business Stepping into courage and fear We’d like to extend a special thank you to sponsor, Mad Hippie, for supporting our movement and helping to bring this episode to life. Cruelty-free and committed to reducing the world’s carbon imprint, Mad Hippie believes that high-quality ingredients should be affordable and that taking care of your skin should be protective, nourishing and restorative. Like StyleLikeU, Mad Hippie was born with a “buck the establishment” manifesto and a belief that we must treat ourselves and our fellow beings with love and respect, regardless of gender, race, orientation, age, location...or even species. For one month following the release of this episode, Mad Hippie is offering StyleLikeU viewers 20% off of their orders by using the coupon code STYLE at checkout. https://www.madhippie.com/ If these stories are transformative on your own journey towards acceptance, please consider becoming a member of StyleLikeU on Patreon so that we can build a world where everyone feels comfortable and safe in their skin. To join the movement, head over to https://www.patreon.com/stylelikeu And if you know anyone who would be empowered by this story, please share and be a part of spreading the message that true style is the result of radical self-acceptance.

The Risk of Revealing Yourself: Dancing To Be Seen with Kate Shela

Elisa and Lily sit down with inspirational stylist, fashion consultant, author, magazine editor, and former co-host of What Not To Wear, Stacy London. Style by fire, Stacy’s trademark “Morticia” gray streak grew in when she was eleven and she has been refusing to hide it ever since. But it isn’t until turning 50 that she is actually having a midlife Renaissance in her Princess dresses and finally feeling a deep comfort in her skin. She is coming into her own having done life her way; not married, without kids and never having had a conventional job. This after a lifetime of eating disorders under fashions unforgiving lens as a Fashion Editor at magazines like Vogue and as a superstar TV host of “What Not To Wear.” “Beauty is about love and contentment,” is Stacy’s new mantra. This week’s topics include: reconnecting to personal style after What Not To Wear combatting the invisibility of women over 40 lost in your 20’s finding yourself at 50 feeling like you have to say yes when you should say no grieving a parent eating disorders and body dysmorphia menopause and self-acceptance through aging the humiliating pain of psoriasis Vogue and the fashion industry the brutally rigorous life of being a reality TV star This episode is brought to you by Chantelle Lingerie. Our listeners can take advantage of free shipping by going to chantelle.com and using the coupon code STYLE.

Stacy London: A Midlife Renaissance After What Not to Wear

Their own hero, Janaya’s all-black uniform can be packed in 7 minutes flat in case they are called to the front lines as an activist and organizer, where they have the responsibility of redirecting rage and rallying community around politically and socially charged moments. You will also find them wearing black in the boxing ring, where they have learned to punch without apology and where they have found refuge as a black, queer, non-binary person in an inclusive space. Janaya’s heroic qualities are also pronounced by their title of Futurist, which was given to them by members of the Black Lives Matter chapter in Toronto (which they co-created). Janaya speaks to communities around the world about the need to communicate and listen to one another despite the insidious Racism, Bigotry, Transphobia, and Islamophobia that runs rampant in our society. Without communication, they believe we will stay in the same cycles of separation and segregation. Despite a traumatic childhood, or perhaps because of it, living to bridge differences and create more understanding between people of all walks of life is perhaps what most makes Janaya the superhero that they are. This episode is brought to you by Chantelle Lingerie. Our listeners can take advantage of free shipping by going to chantelle.com and using the coupon code STYLE.

Too Cute for Two Genders: Activist and Futurist Janaya Khan

Relinquishing shame and stepping into her fullest self is what impersonating others did for Chloe Fineman once she discovered comedy. But her journey to this comfort within only came after lots of zigs and zags. For years, Chloe struggled to fit into a traditional acting career that demanded she shrink herself both literally and figuratively to fit into a waify ingenue “hot girl box.” But a bout with anorexia followed by a chapter of overeating ice cream and blowing out her thyroid led to a dramatic weight gain that became the turning point in Chloe’s path towards fully owning her inner-clown. Today, with an arsenal of wigs, Chloe prides herself on the contribution to society that she makes by embodying the tragic flaws of problematic white women, like Ivanka Trump and Elizabeth Holmes. Feeling the most beautiful when she’s doing her work, Chloe is a tour de force of comic relief, healing pain with lots of laughs. “When I'm doing something where I feel like I'm talented when I'm doing the thing that I love to do and I know that I have a skill at...I'll usually feel really beautiful. I think that's a good way to navigate your relationships; who sees you as beautiful in that or who sees you in a selfie?” This episode is brought to you by Chantelle Lingerie. Our listeners can take advantage of free shipping by going to chantelle.com and using the coupon code STYLE.

Becoming Herself by Becoming Others: Comedian Chloe Fineman

Born in Kenya of Maasai and Kikuyu roots, Neema Githere has faced the harsh realities of growing up in racist America and, at 21 is proudly living the life of her choosing. With her crown of Bantu hair knots and rainbow braids, she had the smarts to get into almost every ivy league school from a small town in Colorado, where she was feared and fetishized for her difference. She later had the bravery to drop out of Yale in favor of a life outside the systems that oppress her, upon realizing that she was unhappy in an elitist academia that is the very bastion of colonialism. Already living the happy ending, Neema is learning about radical love and transcendence from the ancient philosopher Rumi as a means of dealing with the pervasive triggers of systemic racism, traveling to every corner of the world, and is a curator at The Africa Center in NY, where she curates the portal program, ’an internet you can walk through’ that allow us to connect to people everywhere, free from digital algorithms. “Not only is yale on stolen land but it is upheld by the labor of black people and by separating itself as an elite institution against the masses of people who lack access to these institutions. It became a lot for me to weigh in my head; how can I have this revolutionary heart and spirit and intention and still be so deeply entrenched in this institution that's trying to assimilate me into a place of "upwards class mobility" at the expense of my psychological health and cultural health.” This episode is brought to you by Chantelle Lingerie. Our listeners can take advantage of free shipping by going to chantelle.com and using the coupon code STYLE.

Neema Githere: Choosing Self-Love Over Yale and The Algorithm

What’s Underneath is shedding the binds of cultural conditioning placed on us with regards to how we present ourselves to the world. Each episode inspires radical self-acceptance by empowering you to embrace what’s unrepeatable in you. We will bring you intimate conversations with diverse individuals sharing honest and cathartic stories about style, self-image and identity. Welcome to the Self-Acceptance Revolution. What's Underneath is hosted by StyleLikeU’s mother-daughter duo, Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum, and produced with Studio71.

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What's Underneath with StyleLikeU

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