Cat Lady Lupita Nyong'o for Harper's Bazaar UK November 2024 by Alexi Lubomirski AOC Fashion

Beloved actor Lupita Nyong’o has not taken up painting. But today’s Harper’s Bazaar UK [IG] November 2024 cover story reminds us that not all fashion photography sets are created equal. Nyong’o covers Bazaar UK’s ‘The Art Issue: a celebration of colour, craftsmanship, pattern and print.’

Photographer Alexi Lubomirski [IG] hits all the high notes in a fashion story styled by Miranda Almond for Chanel’s newest global ambassador. Gorgeous and right on the money in terms of a huge trend emerging./ Hair by Nai’vasha Johnson; makeup by Nick Barose

Boundless Love for Yoyo

AOC chooses to focus on Lupita Nyong’o: cat lady. Yes, all the Apple News headlines focus on the kaput between Lupita and Joshua Jackson. In her opening interview comments with Bazaar UK’s Teresa Fitzherbert, the actor says:

“My love for my cat is singular. If I'm ever so lucky to be in a romantic relationship again, it'll be because of him,” she says. “I was ready to shut that door and lock it and bolt it. He has ensured that my heart remains open.”

Read other life update stories on Lupita Nyong’o at end of this article to refresh your memory.

An Exceptional Family Loving the Cat Lady

Now age 40, Lupita says she remains in a period of great transition. Speaking of her move out of Brooklyn and into LA about two years ago, the actor says:

“A lot of the things that have defined my life have faded away or changed. A big move like that involves seeking a new rhythm of life, a new community, a new lifestyle.”

To refresh our minds, Lupita’s family originated in Kenya’s Luo tribe. She was born in 1983 in Mexico City, as one of five children of her father Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o and her mother Dorothy Nyong’o. It’s believed that Lupita’s paternal uncle was murdered to intimidate her father, who was a vocal critic of the Kenyan government.

In a family of talented people who excel at every level, Lupita’s father is today the governor of Kismu County and its subdivisions.

AOC snapped a map to help ground this fact in relation to Nairobi, a place the majority of us can find on a map. Kismu is the third-largest city in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa, and a Columbia University Millennium City. With its progressive environmental goals, Kismu is a top business hub in Kenya — proving that the two goals are not mutually exclusive.

White Skin Does NOT Reflect God’s Will

On a separate note — Lupita again speaks of the issue of skin color — one we’ve written about many times, along with featuring her mind-changing interview with Alek Wek.

The actor has frequently told the stories of praying to God as a young woman, beseeching the divine to make her skin lighter.

Wanting to put a different spin on this torturous state of mind for Lupita and so many others haunted by this outrageous set of beliefs, Anne has done a lot of research on this topic.

For AOC, we have true clarity on this topic today. Historically — with a special emphasis on the history of cooperation, competition and war between the Nubians and the Egyptians — the anthropological and archaeological record is quite clear.

The obvious differences in skin color are well-documented and acknowledged between these two great powers in history.

The historical record in early societies is clear regarding awareness of skin color differences. But it’s only with the rise of monotheism, colonial exploration and specifically the financing of the first slave ships by the Vatican, that the association of dark skin with inferiority emerged.

Christian leaders assuaged their own collective conscience about their embrace of the most radical form of slavery by saying it was God’s will — and God’s way of bringing salvation to dark-skin people. This history cannot be undone or forgotten — especially when Donald J. Trump savagely attacks Kamala Harris and all dark-skin people, as he has done for years now — including today in Michigan.

This historical concept is very much on my mind these days. ~ Anne