Do you remember the song that first gave you all the feels?
Andre Lima To Pinga Store shirt.
“I was six years old.
(Her family had just moved.)
I got these goosebumps, and my first instinct was to turn it off because I felt strange.
When my parents went to work, I went [back into their room] and played the CD.
Andre Lima To Pinga Store shirt. Swarovski earrings.
Wait… Brian McKnight?
My dad loves music, and he has great taste.”
The move exposed young Iza to new sounds and sights and the prejudices of her country.
Nau Bikines top. Israel Valentim skirt. Haydee accessories.
Brazil was the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery.
As with many countries in the Americas, communities of the African diaspora are stratified by skin color.
I was the only Black person.
Studio Ellias Kaleb dress. Brennheisen earrings. Ear piercing by Anna Prata Joias.
I remember walking into a restaurant and people staring at us, Iza says.
“I was like, ‘Mom, why are people looking at me that much?’
And she was like, ‘Girl, it is because you are so gorgeous.
Juliana Jabour dress.
People can’t take it.
They are looking at you because you’re really cute.’
I was like, Oh, my gosh.
Anace top. Annakiki Official pants. Graciella Starling hat. Nádia Gimenes acesssories. Versace shoes.
I’m so gorg, yes!
But when you get older you realize people treat you differently because of the color of your skin.”
If Iza’s dad gave her R&B, her mom gave her bravery.
Blue and pink hair bands by Dangot Brand. Pink and blue turbans by Boutique de Krioula.
An estimated 65 to 120 million Brazilians are of African ancestry.
Iza is Afro-Brazilian, as are her parents and grandparents.
But Iza recognizes that her experience is different from most men and women who look like her.
“Unfortunately, I am an exception here in Brazil.
“The Black population is the poorest part of our society.”
The report attributes thissocioeconomic gapbetween Blacks and whites to “discrimination in every aspect of society.”
Growing up, I never saw myself in the media or on TV shows, Iza recalls.
“I didn’t see myself anywhere.
I was invisible.”
Studio Ellias Kaleb dress.
Ear piercing by Anna Prata Joias.
That’s not to mention her social media impact, as her audience nears 30 million across platforms.
She wanted the video to have a lot of symbolism.
The lyrics: “Yeah, yeah, yeah.
One more contract for me.”
Says Iza, “This video is what I wish I had seen as a child.”
Acceptance ofnatural hairis something new in Brazil.
She shares stories of Black women in Brazil who have chosen to wear their hair natural.
But the stories all end with the discovery of self-love, and Iza knows this journey all too well.
When I was young, like 12 years old, I asked mom to let me relax my hair.
I was like, c’mon!
I couldn’t take it anymore at school.
I just wanted to fit in, Iza recalls.
Ultimately, “relaxing my hair was giving me so much trouble,” she says.
“I used to say it was my natural hair that gave me so much work.”
“I am not my hair.
I am bigger than this.”
I just wanted to look at myself with my natural hair and see how I looked.
I wanted to know my hair, Iza says.
“We are living together in the same house, and we didn’t know each other.
And so I was like, I have to meet my hair and see what happens.”
Blue and pink hair bands by Dangot Brand.
Pink and blue turbans by Boutique de Krioula.
Because the true act of resistance, according to Iza, isnt just showing off hercurl pattern.
“I don’t have to wear my natural hair.
I don’t have to relax my hair.
I have to do what Iwantto do,” she says.
It was political because we were saying, ‘I’m wearing it natural anyway.
I don’t care what you think.’
This was the first moment of resistance, which was really necessary.
If I want to go natural, I’m going to go natural.
If I want to shave my head, I will shave my head.
And if I want to go straight and blonde, I’m going straight andblonde.
I am not my hair, she says.
“I am bigger than this.”
Four thousand miles away, I can feel the power of those words.
She sees it slightly differently.
It is heartwarming when people say that I am a symbol of beauty in Brazil.
“We are plural.
We are so different.
We need more space.”
