The cloudy skies and crisp air hoving around Los Angeles were a blatant indication that a new time is brewing in Hollywood. On the heels of #OscarsSoWhite, and the watershed year that has birthed the Time's Up movement and reinvigorated Tamara Burke's #MeToo movement -- Black women continue to be ahead of the curve. During Oscar's weekend, various parties and events were happening all over LA, but executive producer and media maven Koshie Mills' International Women Of Power Event presented by The Diaspora Dialogues was a celebration of women of the African diaspora who are often looked over during awards season. A lush event hosted by Destiny's Child alum Michelle Williams and held at the Marriott in Marina Del Rey, celebrities, activists and attendees gathered to celebrate several powerful women who have impacted those in the diaspora on a global scale. Mills who owns the consulting and public relations firm K3PR wanted to honor women in Entertainment, Business, Beauty, Music, and Fashion.
"I wanted to create a culturally enriched authentic experience with a female aesthetic, where a mosaic of women from the continent and the diaspora can converge, bond, share, uplift, empower and embrace each other's diverse experiences in one room," Mills reflected. "This is an opportunity for everyone looking at Africa and its Diaspora to see how African women are not only beautiful, regal, intelligent, powerful, resourceful and resilient; we are owning our own narrative and reclaiming our Queendom for the world to see."
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Last month, I wrote a
History is often told through the perspective of those who are in power. So much of what is written erases the experiences of those who are marginalized in society. With his arresting and groundbreaking novel, “Double Play”; Curaçaoan author Frank Martinus Arion gave the world a unique view into the island of Curaçao and its culture. Nearly 45 years after the novel was first published, acclaimed Director Ernest Dickerson (“Juice”, “The Wire”, “The Walking Dead”) and Executive Producer Lisa Cortes (“Precious”) are bringing this story to the big screen. Using Curaçao not only as a backdrop for the story, but also weaving its traditions throughout this exquisite tale, Dickerson and his team have begun bringing this story to life.