aalijah, bryanna & felicia

Felicia grew up in Mississauga as a first-generation Canadian and had several different mother figures who all instilled beauty within her in different ways. One of these women was her Godmother – who was half Asian and half Irish – who always filled her with positive affirmations.

In school, Felicia always used to get picked on due to her colour and skin complexion, as she didn’t fit into the predominantly white school population of the time. Many times, she struggled with being the only person of colour (POC) within the classroom and was continuously reminded of how different she was. However, her Godmother always boosted her self-esteem and taught her how she could express herself within her clothing. She would say how beautiful she looked in neon colours, and that teaching has come with Felicia into her adulthood, making her bold with her wardrobe choices to this day. She says, “I’ll wear the neon yellow, I’ll wear the hot pink, because she gave me the confidence to know that I look beautiful in those colours regardless of my skin tone.”

Another issue with beauty that Felicia struggled with while growing up has been her hair. She always contended with how to make it culturally appropriate for society. She would often straighten her hair many times in order to try and satisfy the European beauty standards of her generation. Now, after having two daughters of her own – Alijah & Bryanna – she mentions how all 3 of them have had similar hair journey’s.

Alijah has first-handily faced teachers within her grade school who wrongfully stereotyped her black hair to be “unhygienic” and would often think she had head lice. This has been an ongoing journey for the 3 of them and Felicia hopes that her daughters won’t participate in ‘blow frying’ of their hair – and often damaging it in the process – in order to make it appropriate for society. She continues to teach her daughters that their ethnic hairstyles are both protective and equally beautiful. She hopes that with her girls, their hair is not a big complex for them as it once used to be for her – because she wants them to have fun with it and truly embrace their differences.