Yaya DaCosta was criticized for her pro-blackness. (Photo by Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images)
As Amara La Negra continues to promote her Black pride, a fellow reality star has reflected on her own struggle with embracing her Blackness on reality TV. Yaya DaCosta appeared on the third season of “America’s Next Top Model” and says she identifies with what Amara is going through on “Love & Hip Hop Miami.”
During an ANTM challenge in the competition, DaCosta chose a cowboy hat over a Kente cloth-style cap, which she said was made of artificial, cheap material.
“I’m not feeling it,” one judge responds to the now-actress’ chosen look. “You have this intensity to prove your sort of Africanness. It’s overbearing.”
“Yaya, this picture is stunning,” afro-wearing host Tyra Banks says of a photo in which DaCosta has voluminous straightened hair and a heavily made-up face. “But what’s not amazing is your appearance. Think a little bit more glamour as opposed to natural.”
In a celebrated Friday, Jan. 12 Instagram post including the aforementioned ANTM challenge, DaCosta said the clips of Amara proudly discussing her Blackness as fellow Latinos struggle to accept it caused her to reflect on her experience back in 2004.
“I know that this might seem trivial next to the serious threat our country is currently facing,” DaCosta wrote. “But people keep sending me videos of ‘Love & Hip Hop Miami,’ saying that it reminded them of me as a young girl, learning to navigate the new phenomenon of reality TV. Unfortunately, 14 years later, nothing has changed. Same ignorance, new show…
“It took a lot of work to heal from that experience, and looking back, I feel so much for that eager, vulnerable young version of myself,” she continued. “There are so many things I would whisper in her ear… @amaralanegraaln I truly applaud your strength. As another brown-skinned, curly-headed woman with African roots and Latin branches, I stand with you.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bd4E6HUHCLQ/?taken-by=yayadacosta
