Khoudia Diop once experienced bullying because of attitudes towards her skin colour; she is now a successful fashion model
DtL: Hi Khoudia! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Khoudia: I’m Khoudia Diop AKA the Melanin Goddess (@melaniin.goddess). I’m 19 years old, I was born and raised in Senegal, then I moved to France around age 15 and I currently live in New York.
DtL: Have you experienced bullying?
Khoudia: Yes it’s something that I went through. People would always try to make jokes about how dark I was, or they would come up to me trying to make me feel bad about my skin colour. But I would always fight back or joke around, even though it wasn’t funny for me. I would always try to show them that I didn’t really care about what they thought of me…that kind of busted up my confidence too.
“People would always try to make jokes about how dark I was, or they would come up to me trying to make me feel bad about my color”
DtL: What advice would you give to those that are being bullied?
Khoudia: I advise them to just ignore those that are bullying them. It’s very hard but I believe you can turn those hurtful words into something positive and keep being who you are.
DtL: Could you tell us the story behind your nickname ‘Melanin Goddess’?
Khoudia: I felt that it would be a cool nickname and would help educate dark skinned people – to let them know that it’s okay to be very dark and hopefully make them love themselves more.
[full-width-figure image=”https://dtl-staging.org/2020/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/TCG-Rebirth-feat.-Amber-Pickens-Diandra-Forrest-Khoudia-Diop-.jpg” caption=”Campaign: The Colored Girl: Rebirth”]
DtL: What are the best and worst things about modelling?
Khoudia: The best thing is connecting with a lot of amazing people and inspiring others! I haven’t had any bad experiences yet!
DtL: If you could go back in time, what one thing would you tell your younger self?
Khoudia: To be more patient, and spend less energy on the people that were bullying me.
“I would like all girls out there to always remember that difference is beauty”
DtL: What has been your proudest moment so far?
Khoudia: I inspire a lot of women who have insecurities, so receiving messages from them thanking me for making them realise that they are beautiful are my proudest moments.
DtL: What motto do you live by?
Khoudia: Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you!
DtL: Is there anything you would like to add?
Khoudia: I would like all girls out there to always remember that difference is beauty!
Thanks to Tori Elizabeth, Victory Jones and Khoudia Diop.
