March 9, 2026
The “Our Kind of Women” exhibit portrays Black womanhood in its power and wonder.
Black-owned haircare model The Doux celebrated International Women’s Day with a brand new images exhibit centered on Black womanhood.
The “Our Kind of Women” exhibit, which happened March 8, celebrated Black girls over 40 for “boldly defining radiance, energy, and function on their very own phrases,” a press launch learn. Combining a gallery exhibit with a “cultural storytelling expertise,” the event brought together women and local leaders across Atlanta for its empowering message.
The Doux’s founders, Maya and Brian Smith, collaborated with actor, director, and philanthropist, Terri J. Vaughn, to develop this female-focused celebration. However, “Our Kind Of Women” initially got here to life via visible storyteller Bessie Akuba Winn.
The ongoing images sequence and upcoming espresso desk e-book is a visible triumph and testimony to Black girls’s livelihoods. As Vaughn and Maya Smith turned individuals on this neighborhood motion, the latter needed to search out an extra avenue to showcase this profound work.
To accomplish that, The Doux partnered with Our Kind Of Women as the 2 entities discover frequent floor in Black girls’s upliftment and care. With the gallery’s opening, Winn spoke concerning the deeper connection between Black girls and the areas by which they look after each other.
“Maya Smith, the co-founder and CEO of our presenting sponsor, The Doux, talked about this in her characteristic,” defined Winn. ” She stated that magnificence salons have been one of many first locations that black girls discovered how you can look after one another, how you can collect, and how you can present up for each other. And that’s actual.”
She added, “It makes excellent sense that The Doux is aligned with Our Kind of Women, as a result of what they characterize and who they characterize and stand for, is identical spirit behind this complete mission. Women who got here up in areas that formed us, [and] girls whose experiences laid the muse for a way we evolve, how we lead and the way we present up on the earth.”
The partnership led to featured attendees, together with Georgia gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms, talking on the significance of uplifting girls irrespective of their age or background.
Smith additionally shared how this occasion “felt acquainted,” particularly because it speaks to this demographic’s illustration and recognition. As a champion of Black girls’s hair and holistic well being, Smith hopes to encourage others to see their magnificence in all varieties.
“When I first noticed this mission, it felt acquainted to me,” stated Maya Smith, co-founder and CEO of The Doux. “It’s about Black girls being seen the place we’re proper now in our lives. So many people over 40 are nonetheless constructing, nonetheless creating, nonetheless evolving. We don’t age out of relevance. We develop into ourselves. Supporting Bessie and Our Kind of Women felt pure as a result of it displays the sort of visibility and illustration we actually consider in right here at The Doux.”
While primarily an International Women’s Day occasion, the exhibit left a long-lasting message that Black girls should really feel seen.
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