Alieh Kimbeng

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here but I’m working on my consistency. This post is little different and not really about fashion but there would be some fashion elements. Last week I went to watch Black Panther and honestly I had no expectations. I mainly went because of all the buzz and I had a free ticket. Even though the cast was mainly black, one of the reasons why I had no expectations was because very few movies do any justice to the cultures which stem from the African continent  (See what I did there? I didn’t say African culture because it’s not a thing/doesn’t exist). Most of the time these movies just enhance stereotypes associated with the continent and the director/producers get their information about the continent from the internet.

When I immigrated to the US a few years ago, I was a naive teenager who believed everything portrayed on the media and what I told about other ethnicities. I believed the stereotypes about African Americans, Muslims and other ethnic groups. Like some teenagers who immigrate from an African country, I sort “white approval”.

A few months ago, I was about to graduate with a Masters in Health Informatics and didn’t have any idea what I was going to do. I applied to so many jobs and got rejected as much as I applied, but that didn’t stop me from applying although sometimes it made me doubt my ability and value. I kept on applying and eventually I got job offers, some of the pays were quite disappointing, which made me doubt myself even more. I eventually got an offer from a renowned company, to do what I’ve always wanted to do. The pay was really good but I felt like it could be better, so I renegotiated my salary. This was the first time I’ve ever done this so I had no clue what to do. I asked for help from an employer relations coordinator at my school and I was able to write a good salary negotiation letter. I eventually accepted the job offer which meant I had so much more on my plate.

A few weeks ago, I really wanted to go see deadpool 2 but most of my friends were busy or out of town and I didn’t want to go alone.I was facetiming a friend and she encouraged me go alone and take myself on a date. She also said I wouldn’t have to share popcorn lol. I was hesitant at first because I had never been to the movies alone and I didn’t want to look like I had no friends.