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Black Hair International

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My name is Gabriella Bernard and I am a Trinidadian model who has natural hair. I went on a Caribbean modelling competition and they made me chemically relax it, even though I had it straight for most of my life. I stood up for myself and was told that I was behaving UNPROFESSIONALLY. I conformed and felt broken, but I took my story to inspire others to stand up against injustices through a short film. BLACK is beautiful in all shades, and we need to change the narrative on the beauty standard in the context of the Caribbean where we do not look, speak, or eat like Europeans, so why should we aspire to look like something we are not...?

A lot of people have reached out to me after a video from the competition went viral, showing me standing up for myself and being spoken to harshly by the judges. It has received a lot of attention, and has gained 1.4 million views to date through 2 shares: http://www.bit.ly/gabbyviral1 (676k views) and http://www.bit.ly/gabbyviral2 (814k views)

My documentary has also been selected to screen at three (3) other film festivals: ‘Baltimore International Black Film Festival’ in Baltimore, Maryland (October 2-8); ‘ArtCity Film Festival’ in Cameroon, Africa (October 2018); and ‘Kurlz on Film’ in Los Angeles, California (April 2019). It has previously screened at the Say It Loud Film Festival in Washington D.C. and the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival.  You may view the film's trailer here: http://www.bit.ly/blackhairtrailer

The goal of this campaign is to continue spreading my message through my film, Black Hair, and submit to at least 55 film festivals around the world. Fees usually range from $0 for smaller festivals and up to USD$200+ for bigger festivals. I would really love to inspire others with my story. My 20-min documentary entitled "Black Hair" speaks about my natural hair journey, racist episodes I have had to deal with, and how I overcame having to conform to Eurocentric standards in this show and real life. I am seeing now that I have helped spark a much-needed conversation on standards of beauty, and loving our authentic selves.

I truly appreciate ALL the support I have gotten thus far, and I will be even more grateful for any and all financial assistance in this endeavour!

I am asking for donations of USD$5 from those who can support.
Persons who donate USD$10+ will get to view the documentary 3 months prior to its online release!

Organizer and beneficiary

Gabriella Bernard
Organizer
Dominique Case
Beneficiary

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