As Estee Lauder Ambassador, Adut Akech Brings Ubuntu Values to Our Needy World

As Estee Lauder Ambassador, Adut Akech Brings Ubuntu Values to Our Needy World AOC Blackness

Supermodel Adut Akech is now an Estee Lauder global ambassador, joining other famous women like Karlie Kloss, Carolyn Murphy, Anok Yai and Ana de Armas in a role that is a truly prestigious and long-lasting business and human-values relationship. Estee Lauder is known for paying ambassadors very well and this new achievement for Akech will help to cement her financial future.

Adut Akech Understands Ubuntu

At age 21, Adut has mastered the art of — or is innately gifted in — speaking to activist values with honesty and grace. Consciously or unconsciously, Adut embraces ‘ubuntu’. The Zulu concept of ‘ubuntu’ — expressed Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu — literally means that a person is a person through other people.

Condensed “ubuntu’ is a concept that believes 'I am because of who we all are’ — and that includes you, too. As members of the human family, we don’t live in silos apart from each other, but connected to and impacted by each other’s values and actions. I feel your love and it helps me thrive, and I also feel your hate or indifference which can be spiritually, psychologically and physically crushing.

Now 21 and stepping up as an Estee Lauder ambassador, Adut Akech is the representation she once sought for herself as a young woman of color. "It means a lot to me, because this is something that I never saw – it's something that I never thought I would be able to do," she says. "Even though I had wished and dreamed to do it, I didn’t see it. And now in the position I'm in, I get to be that representation – someone for others to look up to."

Gugu Mbatha-Raw by Danika Magdelena in 'Star Power' for Porter Edit

Actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw by Danika Magdelena in 'Star Power' for Porter Edit

British actor Gugu Mbatha-Raw is super pleased about landing the female role in the new Disney+ series ‘Loki’, playing opposite Tom Hiddleston.

Maya Zepinic styles the actor in ‘Star Power’, choosing crisp, modern looks from Agolde, Kassel Editions, Lanvin, Lisa Marie Fernandez, Loewe, Loulou Studio, Saint Laurent, The Row, Wardrobe NYC and more. Photographer Danika Magdelena [IG] is behind the lens for Porter Edit’s June 14, 2021 issue.

Ajesh Patalay conducts the interview.

What Elephant Crop Raids in Kenya's Masai Mara Are Telling Us About Future Conflict

What Elephant Crop Raids in Kenya's Masai Mara Are Telling Us About Future Conflict

Elephants need large amounts of space to roam in search of food and water. Because of this, they often move outside the boundaries of protected areas – such as the Masai Mara National Reserve and wildlife conservancies – into areas where people live.

These people are impacted by elephants that eat and destroy farm crops. Sometimes their lives are threatened. This often creates fear and anger towards this species and sometimes leads to elephants being killed in retaliation.

These negative interactions – termed human-elephant conflict – pose a huge threat to populations of this endangered species.

Edward Colston Museum Display: What Happens Next for the Fallen Statue

Edward Colston Museum Display: What Happens Next for the Fallen Statue

When Black Lives Matter protests broke out in the summer of 2020, attention quickly turned to perceived symbols of oppression. After years of calls to remove racist monuments, Confederate and colonial statues quickly came down all over the world. But despite this, art historian Erin Thompson has found that many or most have gone up again in new locations.

Some statues have been moved into museums; others have been moved to private locales owned by people who are most enthusiastic about preserving them. Few have been destroyed, and in many places, including the UK, new laws block removal of statues, prescribing instead that they should be retained and explained. Thompson argues that since permanent removal is rare, the question is less whether statues should be removed, and more where they should be located, and how they should be contextualized.

Joshua Woods Captures a Pan African Fashion Story ‘Fières Allures’ in Jamaica for M Le Monde

Joshua Woods Captures a Pan African Fashion Story ‘Fières Allures’ in Jamaica for M Le Monde

Harlem-raised, Paris-based photographer Joshua Woods [IG] brings his visually and emotionally rich Pan African aesthetic to the pages of M Le Magazine du Monde’s June 5 issue with ‘Fières Allures’ [dashing figures, proud ones], styled by Imruh Asha.

Models include Ameli, Aradj, Bruno, Daqui, Hanna, Ismael, Jessie, Mawa, Nadou wearing an extensive lineup of luxury brands including Balmain, Bottega Veneta, Gauchere, Givenchy, Kenzo, Lanvin, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, Molly Goddard, Nanushka, Off-White, Prada, Sean Suen, Versace, Wales Bonner and more. / Hair by Yann Turchi; makeup by Aurore Gibrien

Ola Rudnicka in St. Tropez by Sabine Villiard for Madame Figaro June 2021

Ola Rudnicka in St. Tropez by Sabine Villiard for Madame Figaro June 2021

Model Ola Rudnicka is beach beauty ready, styled by Cecile Martin in ‘L’Effet Sunset’ for Madame Figaro June 2021. Photographer Sabine Villiard [IG] reminds us that French women never forget their finest gold jewelry as the perfect beach accessory in St. Tropez./ Hair by Cyril Laloue; makeup by Maria Olsson

Versace's Pre-Fall 2021 Campaign Le Medusa Bags + Baroccoflage Print

Versace's Pre-Fall 2021 Campaign Le Medusa Bags + Baroccoflage Print by Alasdair McLellan

Versace [IG] Creative Director Donatella Versace takes a more subdued approach to rich patterns in the brand’s Pre-Fall 2021 ad campaign. Make no mistake, though, Versace’s new version of a camouflage print — Baroccoflage — is a hip addition from the new menswear collection.

The new Versace campaign features models Fernando Lindez, Raphael Balzer, Rianne van Rompaey, Simone Bricchi, Sora Choi, and Vittoria Ceretti. Jacob K styles the logo denim and printed blazers with the La Medusa bag hanging from trees like cotton candy.

Trees prompt an AOC search of Versace and sustainability — and it looks pretty empty beyond the usual corporate declarations of “we’re on it.” Alasdair McLellan [IG] photographs the model assembly gathered to showcase a Versace pre-fall 2021 campaign

Ajok Madel, Sophia Roetz Share Body and Soul in Numero #223 by Bastiaan Woudt

Ajok Madel, Sophia Roetz Share Body and Soul in Numero #223 by Bastiaan Woudt

Models Ajok Madel and Sophia Roetz are styled by Rebecca Bleynie in ‘Corps Et Âme’ [Body and Soul]for Numero Magazine #223 Summer 2021. Photographer Bastiaan Woudt captures the duo in his distinctive style beautifully articulated on his IG.

Birgit Kos Goes 'Infrarouge' in Numéro France 223

Birgit Kos Goes 'Infrarouge' in Numéro France 223 by Lee Wei Swee

Top model Birgit Kos is styled by Samuel François in ‘Infrarouge’, lensed by Lee Wei Swee [IG] in electrifying images for Numéro France 223 June-July-August 2021./Hair by Pierre Saint sever; makeup by David Lenhardt

Vivienne Rohner Fronts Vogue Netherlands June 2021 Travel Issue by Hill & Aubrey

Vivienne Rohner Fronts Vogue Netherlands June 2021 Travel Issue by Hill & Aubrey AOC Fashion

Model Vivienne Rohner headlines Vogue Netherlands June 2021 Travel issue, styled by Dimphy den Otter in a Chanel advertorial. Hill & Aubrey [IG] photograph Rohner in ‘Le Grand Retour’ at very small but historic La Colombe d’Or, in Provence.

Liu Wen Fronts New GUCCI BELOVED June 2021 Campaign

Liu Wen Fronts New GUCCI BELOVED June 2021 Campaign by Greg Lin Jiajie

Supermodel Liu Wen fronts luxury brand Gucci’s latest GUCCI BELOVED 2021 campaign, lensed by photographer Greg Lin Jiajie [IG].

Malala Yousafzai's British Vogue Interview Causes Hateful Controversy in Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai has created a storm in Pakistan with her recent British Vogue cover story and interview. As much as Malala — like Obama and Oprah, she is known by her first name — is beloved by western liberals for her true grit spirit, the founding of her foundation dedicated to educating girls worldwide, and her sensitivity generally to embracing progressive issues like climate change and suffering in Syria and Pakistan.

The vast majority of people in Pakistan shed no tears and felt no horror when a Taliban insurgent shot Malala in the face and part of her brain, after boarding a school bus looking for the 15-year-old in 2012. Already — and with her parents’ permission — she was blogging about girls issues for the BBC.

The back lash against Malala’s British Vogue interview was severe, when Malala said: “I still don’t understand why people have to get married.”

"If you want to have a person in your life, why do you have to sign marriage papers, why can't it just be a partnership?" she queries to the world towards the end of her interview.

Pakistan has a lot in common with Trump supporters these days. In the same way that significant numbers of Trump supporters do not believe the Biden won the presidential election, Pakistanis are horrified that Malala is a stooge for the global liberal elite and has brought great dishonor to her home country.

The Washington Post details the outrage sparked in Pakistan over the British Vogue interview. Reality is that the divorce rate is rising in Pakistan, along with women’s bargaining power. Both the nation and large numbers of Pakistani men are not amused.

The TED Talk above is from 2020 one, post Malala’s graduation from Oxford. I’m surprised that British Vogue has no follow up piece on all the controversy around Malala’s interview. You can read it here.

“I Know the Power A Young Girl Carries In Her Heart”: The Extraordinary Life of Malala”

Akuac Thiep Commands The Hunger Magazine Online by Rachell Smith

Akuac Thiep Commands The Hunger Magazine Online by Rachell Smith

Model Akuac Thiep is styled by Sayuri Bloom in modern fashionista, true-grit femme fashion lensed by Rachell Smith [IG] for The Hunger Magazine online./ Makeup by Kamila Forini

The Coach Pillow Tabby by Steven Popovich with Model Holly Magson in Grazia

The Coach Pillow Tabby by Steven Popovich with Model Holly Magson in Grazia

Photographer Steven Popovich [IG] captures a day in the life of The Coach Pillow Tabby, a well-done advertorial for Grazia Magazine. Kim Payne styles model Holly Magson in a fashion shoot at 12 locations over 8 hours. The result is sophisticated but very relatable fashion images high on creativity./ Hair and makeup by Nicola Burford