密歇根新闻广播 请听她的回忆录

 

As a young, black Muslim woman growing up in Detroit, model and style blogger Leah Vernon rarely saw her own experiences reflected in media. But several years ago, she set out to change that as she built a career as an Instagram influencer and model.

Last year, Vernon published a memoir¹ called Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim. It's the story of how she learned to override² peoples' expectations, and found her path to social media stardom.

The 31-year-old fashion blogger now uses her platform to challenge assumptions about what models, influencers, and Muslim women look like. Her Instagram is full of brightly-colored photo shoots paired with honest and open captions³. That vulnerability, Vernon explained, helped her connect with other people and build a sizable following on Instagram.

She never expected to be blogging or writing a memoir. Vernon got into writing through fiction, focusing on creating dystopian and science fiction stories for young adults. And while it is not always easy to share her personal life with strangers, Vernon said, it has ultimately been freeing.

I think it’s important for people to be able to share their truths, and not be ashamed about it, and not hide it because it’s just so much weight to carry when we hide things. And I know a lot of marginalized women and individuals, we hide so much.”

Women who look like Vernon are far more visible than they once were. 2019 was, after all, the year of Lizzo. The singer, who champions body positivity, skyrocketed to the top of the charts with her single “Truth Hurts.” It was also the year the country’s first two Muslim women were sworn into Congress. Still, Vernon said, there is still a long way to go.

“I would love to see more marginalized bodies, whether that means queer, whether that means Muslim, dark-skinned, whether that means you are in a wheelchair or you use assisted devices, I want to see more of that in mainstream⁴ commercials, and high fashion, and beauty.”

As for what’s next, Vernon said she wants to continue to build her modeling career in New York and beyond. And she’s planning to publish a second book. This time, Vernon said, she's returning to her writing roots with a science fiction novel.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Olive Scott.

1 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

2 override   

vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于

参考例句：

• The welfare of a child should always override the wishes of its parents.孩子的幸福安康应该永远比父母的愿望来得更重要。
• I'm applying in advance for the authority to override him.我提前申请当局对他进行否决。

3 captions   

n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I stared, trying to grasp the point of the picture and the captions. 我目不转睛地看着漫画，想弄清楚漫画和解说词的意思。 来自辞典例句
• Indicates whether the user or the system paints the captions. 指示是由用户还是由系统来绘制标题。 来自互联网

4 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。