We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nikeah Howard a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikeah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on thus far was actually one that took place over a week ago. A friend of mine, stage name “Solfull Poetry”, invited me to be a part of his visual project called, “For She Is Poetry”. This project focused on celebrating the uniqueness, beauty, resilience, and depth of Black Women, and he wanted to interview me and several others for it on camera.

I was brought on to share my story – share details about myself among a group of women. Doing so reminded me of my struggles and what lead me to where I am now, and further, reminded me of how strong I am. However, the part about this project that sticks with me the most was listening to the rest of these lovely women share lives.. I was moved and in awe.. I never felt so accepted and understood in my life – mind you, I had never met most of these women before. However, the part about this project that sticks with me the most was listening to the rest of these lovely women share their lives. I was moved and in awe.

I suffer from Clinical Depression, and a common trait with that is feeling alone – I have my days where I feel lonely in what I’ve been through; on that particular day and unbeknownst to them, I was feeling that exact same way the day of the shoot. Listening to them reminded me that my struggles are not my own, and that there are indeed people who truly understand me and all that I’ve been through. I cannot fully describe how at home I felt among these women, again, whom I’ve never met before.. but I was certainly at home with them.

Nikeah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Well, for starters, my name is Nikeah (pronounced nih-KEY-ah” )! I am a 24 year old Detroit, Michigan native! I center my modeling around black representation, and it also ties directly into body acceptance, self-love, and positive mental health. I am an artist in general – I paint, draw, and am also a photographer, but I’m currently focusing on modeling and being representation for all black women, and little black girls in and outside of my community.

I started modeling by being a photographer – I’d been shooting for several years at this point, but felt stagnant in my craft. I felt as though that I wasn’t directing my subjects enough, and not providing enough guidance on how to pose, move, etc., and figured that if I did a few shoots as a model, I’d understand that side of things better. After doing a few shoots with friends and locals, I found myself confronting my OWN insecurities in front of the camera, and began unpacking them one by one. I was insecure about my stretch marks, scars, my hair, my skin, and my overbite to name a few. These shoots began to act as a form of therapy for me,; as my confidence was rising higher than it had ever been in my life, my depression and anxiety began to become more manageable. I was becoming a new, confident version of myself, and I LOVED every second of it.

Over time, people began reaching out to me online and telling me how empowered and confident my posts and shoots made them feel, how they too had began to feel the self-love they had been missing! Little brown girls (and women!) began approaching me in public to compliment my hair, telling me they were too nervous to wear theirs in an afro, but after seeing me with mine, they’d give it a try. I started to feel as though I had an obligation to fulfill – be the representation I didn’t have when I was small, and continue to inspire people to love themselves unapologetically.

I am honestly most proud of that: the representation I’m providing for my people, especially in and around the city of Detroit. I’ve worked with a few local brands like LaMuse Collections and Fantasy Eye-Land, and really find joy in making sure I support the businesses here. There’s so much talent here and I’ve been lucky enough to work with brands like those who recognize what I add to the fashion/creative industry.

I am a multi-talented woman who loves herself and where she comes from! I’m an advocate for positive mental health, positivity, self-love, and body acceptance, all while rocking natural hairstyles – my afro being the style I wear the most. I want to continue bringing that to the industry for as long as I can.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My community, the Black Community, needs as much positive representation as possible; my mission is to continue to be the representation that I barely had when I was a child.

I grew up thinking my skin was too dark, that my hair grew out “wrong”, and that I was “pretty enough for a black girl”. I want to continue showing the little black girls and women, all of my people, really, that who you are is MORE than enough, and you don’t need to change your hair texture, skin tone, nor the “flaws” that you think are “flaws” to be beautiful in the eyes of people who could care less. We’re enough. Our natural selves are more than enough.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I grew up in Detroit, but not the Detroit we see today. Things were far different and worse than they are now – my family and I bounced around bad neighborhoods very often, never truly settling on a place to call “home”. My entire childhood was awful, to be completely honest.

From the ages of of 6 – 10, I endured sexual assault, sleeping in vans, bug/mice infestations, parents divorce, physical abuse, a near death experience, evictions, and so many other terrible things that children shouldn’t deal with. I was a smart kid who grew up very fast in a toxic environment, all the while being fully aware of everything that was happening around me, no matter how much the adults tried to hide it. Growing up fast means you don’t experience your childhood like other kids, so I always felt set apart from the kids that I did know. That I was too mature.

I have possibly seen and experienced more traumatic situations than the average 20-something year old; while saying that is a bit sad to think about, having gone through those things made me perceptive, strong, and incredibly resilient; I wouldn’t go back and change those things. I survived my traumas, have been in therapy, and have worked very hard to unpack my past, but my childhood alone paints a clear picture of the definition of “resilience”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/aunaturel_keah
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aunaturel_keah/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AunaturelKeah
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keahchantel

Image Credits
1. Johnny Docs 2. Plumeria Photography 3. Gabriel’s Loft Photography 4. RBJ Photography 5. Jordan Morrow Photography 6. D’Isjah Lyons 6. C. Alex Campbell