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Women Of Color YouTubers To Watch

This year one of my resolutions was to increase the people of color I am watching on all platforms. With another year of an all white Oscars,  it is so important that we celebrate our media producers that are Black, Indigenous, and People Of Color (BIPOC). New streaming services are launching for this purpose, like Kweli, “an interactive streaming platform exclusively for the global black community,” or NativeFlix, which hosts movies and series produced by and for Indigenous People. Thanks to efforts like theseonline hubs are curating content to reflect real diversity.

Yet long-standing social media platforms like YouTube are still not pulling their weight promoting channels run by the diverse YouTubers of color. Popular Youtuber, Franchesca Ramsey told Fusion,  “Many people of color struggle to reach the same level of visibility on YouTube as white content creators.” In light of that  I wanted to share some of my favorite YouTubers of Color. In no particular order, here are some of my faves from beauty bloggers to chefs to feminists with brilliant social commentary.

  1. Shameless Maya: Her “channel started out as a social media experiment and now it’s a lifestyle.” produces high quality videos on lifestyle, inspiration, fun transformations, techie vids for aspiring geeks, beauty, fashion. All of the videos on her channel are transcribed in closed caption for all of her deaf audience members.
  2. Code With Kaya: Dartmouth grad Kaya documents her journey in the tech world and shares her skills in coding.
  3. Tatiana Mercedes: Tatiana is a non binary femme person vlogging on issues of race, class, gender, and size as well as pop culture.
  4. Elin Papi Baby: She is a candy colored inked and pierced up unicorn mami whose channel focuses on makeup, fashion and beauty.
  5. Elektrik TV: A hair stylist and neon color aficionado, she is a licensed cosmetologist and master hair color specialist.
  6. Total Makeup Junkie: This channel delivers some of the best makeup reviews of affordable drug store brands from an upbeat beauty lover.
  7. Queird  & Hartbeat: These two adorable gay channels are run by Hartbeat. Content is split up between personals blogs on Quierd and an slew of other hilarious videos on the latter.
  8. Jouelzy: These videos are all about celebrating and advocating for the #SmartBrownGirl. This includes weekly videos with witty commentary on current cultural topics the impact women of color.
  9. Jungsaemmool: Korea’s most popular makeup artist, her videos are all captioned in English
  10. Claire Marshall: Claire is an LA-based makeup artist turned beauty & lifestyle blogger.
  11. Black Essence: Black girl gamer with solid walk throughs of a variety of games both online and off. She also has videos and links to other girl gamers of color.
  12. VeganLoveLie: This series provides plant-based recipes with a Mauritian touch Creole/African, Chinese, European and Indian
  13. Farah Dhukai: Bollywood inspired makeups tutorial and DIY skincare solutions are some of this user’s specialities.
  14. Krissy Chula: One of the funniest women ever, I have been watching her since I saw her incredible double standards video for years ago. Her Chipotle song has made me wet my pants and I have prayed along with her in summer for “Jesus to Be a Raindrop.
  15. Bianca Harris: Make sure to check out the Zendaya, Zoe, and Rihanna makeup tutorials by this Toronto based beauty blogger
  16. Kat Blaque: An opinion vlogger, children’s illustrator and thrift store addict, Kat Blaque’s videos are amazing and her Facebook page is lit!
  17. SaimaSmilesLike: This Hijabi cat-obsessed Youtuber, blogger, photographer, designer and feminist has videos featuring all of her passions included in her makeup tutorials and beauty review.
  18. Destiny Godley: Her videos on best setting powders and foundation for dark skin are brilliant. She also has exceptional workout and skincare tutorials.
  19. Shan Boody: Shannon Boodram is a TV personality who specializes in sex and love. She also has great personal videos about following your dreams. She is another six goddess on this list.
  20. Offbeat Look: Created by self-proclaimed weirdo Camille Johnson, this series is all about beauty, fashion, and everything in between.
  21. NaturalNiecey: This Toronto-based natural hair blogger is like the sister I never had. She provides incredibly simple tutorials on how to braid or get fleeky two strand twists.

They are a few lists of other women of color bloggers that are great to check out, and if you notice gaps in content, that might be exactly the space for your new channel to occupy.

Image via Kat Blaque

Kim Katrin Milan is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed artist, educator and writer.

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