{"id":104455,"date":"2015-10-19T23:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-19T23:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sayaspora.com\/antonia-opiah-unruly\/"},"modified":"2025-05-14T10:32:31","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T14:32:31","slug":"antonia-opiah-unruly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sayaspora.com\/en\/antonia-opiah-unruly\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonia Opiah | Un’ruly"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jeune entrepreneure, <\/span>Antonia Opiah<\/span><\/b> est la cr\u00e9atrice de un-ruly.com : un site d\u00e9di\u00e9 \u00e0 la femme noire et au cheveux afro. D’origine nig\u00e9rienne, elle vit actuellement \u00e0 Paris. C’est avec d\u00e9votion et\u00a0enthousiasme\u00a0qu’elle a au travers de sa platforme, mis en place deux projets\/<\/span>conversations <\/i>aussi inspirants et int\u00e9ressants les uns des autres : “You Can Touch My Hair”<\/b> et “Pretty<\/b>“.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\n


\n<\/span>___________________\u00a0<\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>The following interview will be in english. You can still transalate it with the google translator available on your right.\u00a0<\/i><\/span>
\n__________________<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
SAYASPORA\u00a0:<\/span>Introduce yourself in 3 words.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

ANTONIA. O\u00a0:<\/span>Hello I\u2019m Antonia!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAYASPORA\u00a0: \u00a0<\/span>What\u00a0is Un’ruly<\/b> ? Why did you feel the need to create it ?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ANTONIA. O\u00a0: <\/span>Un-ruly is a place for Black hair and women. I created it because I am always looking for ideas for new hairstyles because I like changing my hair a lot and I felt there was room online for a website dedicated to\u00a0inspiring and celebrating Black hair. Additionally, I see hair as a way women to connect with each other. No matter where I go in the world, if I meet another Black woman, hair is one thing that we\u2019ll talk about. It\u2019s a great way to break the ice. So I also see Un-ruly as a place for women to connect with each other as well.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAYASPORA\u00a0: <\/span>Explain to us where comes from this interest for the issue of Afro-hair ? Growing up as a kid, Have you always loved your hair?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ANTONIA. O\u00a0:<\/span> Growing up, I never really thought about my hair. I didn\u2019t\u00a0have a sentiment toward it. It was just there. Even today, my hair is often an afterthought, only because I\u2019m too occupied with other\u00a0things to be thinking\u00a0about it, that can be said about my appearance in general, LOL<\/b>. Now that I\u2019m\u00a0older I understand the history of Black hair and the politics attached to it and I know that my hair is a product of events that happened before I even existed and I\u2019m proud of that.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

___________<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span>Le site <\/span>Un’ruly<\/span><\/b> tient son nom du mot “indomptable”, qualificatif souvent -\u00e0 tord- utilis\u00e9 pour caract\u00e9riser le cheveux afro. Cette\u00a0plateforme\u00a0r\u00e9unit en ligne, des astuces de beaut\u00e9s, des histoires qui ont pour sujet la\u00a0couleur de peau noire et\u00a0m\u00eame\u00a0les questions identitaires.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span>
\n___________<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAYASPORA: <\/span>Since the creation of <\/span>Un’ruly<\/span><\/b> you have set up two projects \u00ab You\u00a0can touch my hair<\/b> \u00bb and \u00ab Pretty\u00a0<\/b>\u00bb , introduce them to us !\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ANTONIA. O: <\/span>I like to call You Can Touch My Hair and Pretty\u00a0\u201cconversations<\/b>.\u201d \u00a0Both of them are geared at stirring conversation and analyzing a topic that\u2019s affecting people\u2019s lives. You Can Touch My Hair was a public art\u00a0exhibit that looked at the way Black women are\u00a0objectified because of their hair. Pretty looks at the larger topic of beauty globally and what it means to different women around the world.<\/span><\/span>
\nThe biggest challenge with these projects or any project is making sure that you do them justice, making sure that you handle the subject matter well and that something is learned from each conversation.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\"\"<\/a>SAYASPORA <\/span><\/span>: \u00a0Through\u00a0your project ” Pretty<\/b>” you have questioned several women about the definition of \u00ab \u00a0beauty \u00bb , Now we have to ask : What is beauty for you ?<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n
ANTONIA. O <\/span><\/span>: I haven\u2019t quite yet decided what beauty is to me. I acknowledge that there\u2019s a beauty ideal but, I\u2019ve started also\u00a0seeing beauty as an emotion, something you not only see but feel and even hear.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
SAYASPORA\u00a0: <\/span>As an african woman , what do you think about the relation between african women and entrepreneurship ?<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
ANTONIA. O\u00a0:<\/span> I can\u2019t speak about African women in general, but I\u2019m more familiar with Nigerian women. One of the reasons Nigeria is so dear to me is because Nigerians (and this is a\u00a0generalization, but I like to believe it), Nigerians are sooo enterprising. Most of the Nigerians I know are creating something, building something. We hustle and I love that about us. It puts us in a great position to be great as individuals and greater as a nation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
\n

SAYASPORA\u00a0: <\/span><\/span>What does the word woman inspire you ?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

ANTONIA. O\u00a0: <\/span>Power.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAYASPORA\u00a0: <\/span>What impact do you want to have on women worldwide ?<\/span><\/p>\n

ANTONIA. O\u00a0<\/span>: The most important thing I learned in college was to question everything. I feel that being inquisitive and not accepting of the world as it is, is the first step toward being able to mold the world into something better. I want to get more women, more people to question the world we live in while also being introspective and examining themselves. I want to be\u00a0able to help people realize just how much power they really have as individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

SAYASPORA\u00a0:<\/span> So what’s next for your projects\u00a0? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ANTONIA. O<\/span>\u00a0: I\u2019m focusing on doing a good job on my present work at the moment. I want Un-ruly to be the best that it can be and I think next steps will reveal themselves to me :-).\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
What is Pretty in Tel Aviv ?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
__________<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“We\u2019ve headed east and landed in the sun-filled city of Tel Aviv, Israel. Here we meet Gabby, Gloria, Yityish, Mayana and Efrat who discuss the distinct spirit of Israel, the vibrant and open nature of Tel Aviv and the controversy surrounding Israel\u2019s first Black beauty queen”\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n