The Dalston schoolboy who took on Eton schoolboys and won is selected to join elite debaters in world championships

Hackney schoolboy to join elite debaters in world championships

Ife Grillo (second from left) and Team England

A Dalston schoolboy has said he is “incredibly proud and happy” to be selected for England schools debating team.

Ife Grillo, 17, from Bridge Academy in Laburnum Street, Dalston, will join team-mates from Eton and Westmister in Stuttgart, Germany, where the World Schools Debating Championships will be held this July.

The team has long been the domain for privately educated pupils but Ife’s inclusion breaks the mould.

The 17-year-old already has some superb achievements to his name.

He has debated in the House of Commons, is the vice-chair of a national charity, mentors primary school students and has started his own organisation to encourage youth campaigning.

Speaking to the Gazette, Ife said: “I am incredibly proud and happy to be selected. I owe a lot to Debate Mate, they have changed my life.

“There is a lot more to debating than just debating, it provides you with valuable skills.

“Your mentality can be something that sometimes holds you back. You can think that pupils from Eton will be better because they are privately educated and it takes a lot to break that mentality.

“Debate Mate made me feel I was never limited and could achieve any of my aspirations.”

He is the first member of the team to have been coached by the Debate Mate, which targets schools with above average numbers of children entitled to free school meals.

Grillo is Debate Mate’s first student to be selected for Team England.

CEO and founder of Debate Mate Margaret McCabe, said: “We are really proud of Ife as we are of all our amazing Debate Mate students. “With the support of our mentors, his Debate Mate peers, and the wider debating community, he has worked incredibly hard and we are sure he will do himself and his country proud.”

Source: http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/education/hackney_schoolboy_to_join_elite_debaters_in_world_championships_1_4367811

Would You Bet On Forever? Startup Company Promises To Fund Your Wedding…If You Never Divorce

Every bride heads to the altar convinced her marriage will last forever, but is she willing to bet on that?
New Seattle-based startup SwanLuv is banking on it. When it launches in 60 days, the company promises to give engaged couples up to $10,000 toward their dream wedding, free of charge. But, there is a pretty crazy catch! If they stay together forever, they never have to pay back a cent. But those who call it quits—whether it’s two months into the marriage or twenty years later—you’ll have to pay the money back with interest.
20 Ways To Not Ruin Your Friend's Wedding
In order to be selected, the company will evaluate your relationship and determine and interest rate based on how compatible you are. If it sounds depressing, that’s because it is. The money divorcées have to pay back will go toward funding new weddings. Ouch!
6 Things You Absolutely Never Judge At Someone's Wedding
The company, named after swans because they mate for life, claims their business is about supporting everlasting love. Contrary to popular belief, the divorce rate in the U.S. is not on the rise. It's actually declining, according to a recent study covered by The New York Times. About 70 percent of marriages that began in the 1990s reached their 15th anniversary, up from roughly 65 percent of those that began in the 1970s and 1980s. And couples who wed in the 2000s are divorcing at even lower rates.
The average wedding cost in America is $31,213, according to a 2015 survey by TheKnot.com. That mean that even with a $10,00 boost, most couples will still be forking over a litle Making the important question here very simple: Would be you be willing to bet a third of your wedding costs (plus interest) that your marriage will last forever?
Hmm.

Source: http://www.essence.com/2015/12/17/startup-promises-fund-wedding-if-you-never-divorce?ESS+FB=ESS_socialflow_Facebook

Get Ready For A Dreaded Miss World!

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The first dreadlocked beauty queen to compete in the Miss World competition, happening in China this December, takes a battle-axe to the Caucasian beauty standard with a head of hair that rejects your combs and carries the weight of a defiant past.

Born to a single mother in one of the toughest hoods in Kingston, Jamaica, and adopted at age 9 by a Good Samaritan she calls father, Sanneta Myrie, a 24-year-old medical doctor who started dancing at age 4, was elbow deep in medical school when she thought to enter the pageant.

"I have always wanted to be a doctor and help people, but who wouldn't want to be the brand ambassador for Jamaica?" she says, adding that she gave up her internship to pursue this other dream. "But I have the rest of my life to do medicine, so I am just exploring all that life has to offer now."

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Now, she's in China for the month-long Miss World festivities, representing Jamaica to the fullest with her brains, talent, winning personality, and "beauty with a purpose." But can this perfect storm of attributes sweep away any lingering stereotypes to settle the coveted crown on her "natty" dread head?

As Miss World, her job would be to spearhead initiatives as the face of several fundraising efforts for the Miss World Organization, the institution behind the pageant that raises millions for children's charities each year. Because one of her missions is to empower youth, this title would propel her platform as a world-shaper by connecting them to resources that could tangibly impact their futures. And what value could her iconoclastic look possibly bring to the process of empowerment?

Joan McDonald, Miss Jamaica World 1978 | Jamaicans.com

Dreadlocks go back thousands of years. Biblical figures Samson and John the Baptist, King Tut's mummy, Vikings, Hindu mystics, Asian emperors, Jamaica's Maroons, and the freedom fighting Mau Maus of Kenya are all said to be bound by the same matted mane—that is, way before Bob Marley stepped on stage and flung his iconic locks far and wide.

The versatile world of dreadlocks remains a mystery to many cultural outsiders. "How do they do that? Where do I get some? And how is it that one person can have over 100 matted tendrils, cascading down, slimmer than pinkies, while another sprouts only four that stick up, fat as forearms?" While it's clear that Dr. Myrie keeps her slim locks neat by frequently twisting them at the root, other dread wearers, outside of washing them regularly, might leave theirs untouched, to knot up as they may, hence the description "natty." Maybe if her locks looked the latter, Dr. Myrie wouldn't be Miss Jamaica World.

Hannah Smoot

After all, being of clear African descent hasn't proven to boost anyone's chances of a win—at home or on foreign soil—and it's hard to believe it's because they are inferior candidates. Black countries with a white minority have been known to regularly churn out European contestants. What's more is that even though the Miss World competition started in 1951, the first black African, from Nigeria, won in 2001. And none since. (Note: Egypt won once, and South Africa won twice, but with European-looking delegates.)

Interestingly, Jamaica's contestants have a better track record at placing at Miss World than any country of African descendants with three wins and several runners up in the pocket. Carole Joan Crawford was the first Miss World of color to take the crown in 1963, though she skews racially ambiguous, at best. Damien "Junior Gong" Marley's mostly-white mom, Cindy Breakspear, won in 1976. Lastly, an undeniably black Lisa Hanna, a major influence for Myrie growing up, triumphed in 1993. All of them sported straight styles.

And while one or two braided beauties represent Africa in these widely-televised, international pageants, when it comes to rocking Afro-centric hairstyles that speak to a history of oppression, Jamaica, too, has blazed that trail more unabashedly than other colonized countries whose contestants tend to overwhelmingly sport long, silken tresses of the status quo. Jamaican contestants Andrea Lyons (who made it to Miss World semi-finals) and Joan McDonald both donned Afros fit for a crown. That was in 1974 and 1978 respectively, decades after Jamaican political leader Marcus Garvey planted the "Black is beautiful" seed in the consciousness of an unready world. Reminiscent of that ideology, the 70s, the era of the Black Panther, sent images of empowered black women with fists raised and their perfect globes of hair, often crowned with berets, rippling across the world.

The Urban Daily

And more recently, in 2007, good ole Jamaica sent its first Rastafarian contestant to the rivaling Miss Universe contest, Zahra Redwood— her lioness locks tickling her buttocks. She didn't place.

And while our current Miss Jamaica World is a vegetarian who loves listening and dancing to reggae, Dr. Myrie publicly only admits to a coffee habit—which she sips through a straw to keep her teeth white—and doesn't rep Rastafarianism as her reason for locking her hair, but Jamaica itself. "I lock my hair because I identify with it. I am very much rooted in that Afro-centric nature, where we as Jamaicans are rooted. It's my expression," she states.

Once sacred yet frowned upon by previous generations for its associations with poor hygiene, weed smoking, and criminality, dreads have grown more visible in popular culture, thanks to talents like Whoopi, Stevie, Lauryn, and Lisa Bonet. While American celebs have somewhat divorced the 'do from Rastafarianism, transforming the style from an indicator of spirituality to mere fashion, self-expression, and quixotic free-spiritedness, the truth about how welcomed the hairstyle is to other realms of life remains questionable.

The Cannabist

And that is not even to say that celebrities are immune to lurking stereotypes. Earlier this year in fact, at the sight of Disney star Zendaya's dreadlocked appearance on the Oscars red carpet, E!'s "Fashion Police" TV personality Giuliana Rancic remarked that she must've smelled of patchouli oil and weed. The 18-year-old Zendaya respectfully checked her on Instagram, and then removed the faux locks the next week.

Alternet

While Dr. Myrie doesn't want her hair to be the focus of her presence at Miss World (as she has plenty of "presentation, intelligence, and charitable work" to offer), out of all 117 contestants, her look is arguably the most unique. It clearly doesn't dance to the drumbeat of this Eurocentric arena. And though the average spectator can have no way of knowing what goes on behind the curtains, the question remains: have dreads become internationally accepted enough to become a non-factor in the decision making, or do they still hold the power to sway her chances of becoming a world ambassador for children? Can the style's mystique entreat the judges—two Brits, two Chinese, and a Venezuelan—to perceive it as beautiful... or dreadful?

Dr. Myrie's locked presence in this tilted arena is more than just about touting Jamaica's noteworthy culture or inspiring young girls to become dreaded beauty queens like her (as wonderful as that would be). It even goes deeper than chipping away at the age-old stereotypes of inferiority that continue to systematically oppress people of color worldwide. Really, though, there's an immeasurable impact that occurs in the psyches of marginalized young people—sometimes who have brittle dreams—when they encounter a future version of themselves in a role model like Myrie, whose life and likeness reflects them more than the well-meaning, usually white, savior.

Missosology

Whether she wins or not, the Miss World pageant is sure to be one of many platforms for the message Dr. Sanneta Myrie's life intends to send. That from the potholed streets of Kingston, to this crossroad between stethoscope and sash, she is here, embracing her beauty's natural mystic in an arena despite validation from others: this 24-year-old doctor, dreadlocked and dancing to Junior Gong.

Source: http://www.femde.com/article/30747149/get-ready-for-a-dreaded-miss-world

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Actress Samira Wiley is pleased to see lots of African American women embracing their natural hair.

Orange is the New Black's Samira Wiley has no regrets over chopping off her hair, as she saw it as a new beginning.

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The 28-year-old actress plays Poussey Washington in the hit Netflix series about a women's prison. Her short afro hair is as synonymous with the character as it is in real life for Samira, who chopped off her long locks when she attended prestigious performing arts college the Juilliard School, and she has never looked back.

"I've had my hair short for a really long time - it's been nine years," she told lifestyle website MIMI. "Before I cut it, I had long hair that was everything from permed to straight. I remember when I got into Juilliard - which was just crazy to me, that I would be studying at a school like that - the choice to cut all my hair off was really symbolic for me. It felt like I was making the choice to have a new beginning. It's the same really for a lot of African American girls at that age - you see a trend of them going back to their natural hair - that was definitely what I was chasing at that time. And I didn't really go back (to long hair) because it felt so good."

That doesn't mean Samira is against growing her hair in the future, and after trying on a variety of wigs for the site's accompanying photo shoot, she is excited at the prospect of switching up her look when Orange is the New Black comes to an end.

"I am looking forward to whenever the show comes to a close - whenever that is - to be able to have another one of those new beginnings," she continued. "I'm looking forward to growing my hair, and doing different things with it."

Samira credits her mother and older sister for helping her look evolve over the years as they have always inspired her to experiment. "My mom is super fabulous, and I remember her telling me at 13, 'You can start wearing make-up now,'" she recalled. "And the funny thing is, I didn't take her up on it. I don't wear it on an everyday basis, because I like my skin to breathe."

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Source:http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/fashion-beauty/samira-wiley-cutting-off-my-hair-was-really-symbolic-34216521.html

7-Year Old Girl Wins $16k For Her Comic Book About A Little Black Girl with Magic Afro Puffs/

A major problem facing African Americans is the rampant self hate among our people. Subconsciously, we are breed via the educational system, media and history to look down on our people, ourselves and especially our hair, particularly little black girls.

This is why the story of 7 year old Natalie McGriff is so inspiring and uplifting to me that I feel all of UI and the world should know about her. Not only did she suffer from this self hate and hated her hair, but she realized it with the help of her mom and took steps to do something about it to help others.

Natalie is the author of “The Adventures of Maxie Girl”, a comic book series about a little black girl that hates her nature hair. Then one day, she uses some magic shampoo on her hair and her afro puffs take on super powers that give her the ability to save Jacksonville, Florida’s public libraries from being eaten by monsters.

The story builds self confidence in little black girls while encouraging them to read as well, another area Natalie struggled in before putting together the comic book.

McGriff presented The Adventures of Moxie Girl at One Spark, the world’s largest crowdfunding festival designed to connect creators with the resources they need to bring their ideas to life. Her comic book was a win, as the young author took home a check for $16,423.69.

Angie Nixon, McGriff’s mother, helped to author the book upon realizing that her daughter suffered with self-esteem issues and hated reading. “‘She now realizes how powerful and awesome her hair is and that in order for her to write a cool book, she needs to read more books and learn different word,’” Nixon says.

McGriff is the winner of One Spark’s Education category. Over 530 projectsreportedlycompeted at One Spark and 300,000 people attended.

Source: Urbanintellectuals

Brave Girl a TWA at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show

On the runway for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, where glossy, flowing curls are the norm, one model decided to do things her way Tuesday night.

Rather than bending to VS's traditional beauty standards, 23-year-old Angolan model Maria Borges rocked the runway sans wig, weave or even extensions. While donning elaborate bras, feather-laden "wings" and lots and lots of fringe, Borges went all natural to make a personal yet powerful statement on what beauty could look like in today's world.

This Model Just Brought Natural Hair to the Victoria's Secret Runway for the First Time — Source: Michael Stewart/Getty Images

"I told my agent I wanted to walk in the Victoria's Secret show with my natural hair," Borges told entertainment news reporter B. Scott, who posted on Instagram. "I was nervous, but I had to do it. When they said 'yes' I didn't expect it, but I was so happy!"

Fans gushed in response to Borges' look on her Instagram. "I can't be more proud of your haircut, you look STUNNING.

. Another wrote, "Thank you for taking a stand an wearing your natural hair!!!"

And Borges was more than proud to celebrate with them, showing no sense of doubt or tentativeness about her decision. Instead, she called out her "Afro hair" and used the hashtag #MBmakinghistory.

It was history-making in a personal way.

Borges has walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show catwalk twice before — in 2014 and 2013 — and for both shows, she went with the typical long, flowy tresses of her peers.

This year, however, she was able to walk alongside celebrity supermodels like Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner and stand out for just the right reason.

Borges' statement comes at a critical time for the country's largest lingerie retailer and its massive yearly showcase. Although Victoria's Secret has made an effort to bring on more black girls to the runway show this year, there are still startlingly few of them. Out of the 44 models walking this year, eight are black. And Borges was the only model to do so with her natural hair.

Especially during a time when black beauty in the mainstream (and lack thereof) continues to make headlines, Borges has made a noteworthy move. In early October, Empire actress Taraji P. Henson did the same with a photo shoot for the high-end fashion magazine CR Fashion Book.

"As women we put sooooo much emphasis on our hair!!!" Henson wrote in an Instagram caption of the photos. "As if hair defines beauty? I am always so grateful for women who are FREE AND BOLD enough to cut it ALL off."

In the fashion and beauty industry, there's been a rise in models themselves drawing attention to the industry's overall lack of diversity, in particular its consistent overlooking of black beauty. In July, model Nykhor Paul took to her Instagram to talk about the makeup artists that still come ill-prepared to photo shoots with dark-skinned models.

"Why do I have to bring my own makeup to a professional show when all the other white girls don't have to do anything but show up wtf!" she wrote. "Stop apologizing it's insulting and disrespectful to me and my race it doesn't help, seriously! Make an effort at least!"

The fact that Borges walked the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show proudly with her natural hair matters — both for women who will watch the show on national television Dec. 8, looking up to the models as displays of beauty, and for the industry insiders who could use to familiarize themselves with hair and skin that isn't just white.

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is known for presenting models that are beauty and sex appeal incarnate, and Borges reminded us what that can look like in 2015.

Source: Mic

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