February marks Black History Month, a time for championing the accomplishments, talents, and achievements of Black people and the Black diaspora throughout history. Black activists have been at the forefront of the body positivity movement since its inception, shouldering much of the emotional and educational labor that comes with fighting for fat liberation, body-size diversity, and ending stigma and discrimination against larger-bodied people.
Representation is so important, especially when it comes to curating our own social media feeds to reflect the kind of content we want to see — creative, inspiring, and diverse. They’re authors, changemakers, interior decorators, fashion influencers, fitness gurus, and more. Here are the visionary Black creators you should be following.
Jessamyn Stanley
Stanley, the self-proclaimed Beyoncé of yoga, has been a fixture in the yoga community for years, advocating for fat visibility in an industry that so often valorizes thin, white bodies. She’s the award-winning author of two books, “Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love your Body” and “Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance,” and is the co-founder of The Underbelly Yoga. She’s also started teaching naked yoga on OnlyFans to show people more examples of what a fat body looks like with no clothes on.
Sonya Renee Taylor
Taylor is one of the leading Black creators in the world of radical self-love and acceptance. In 2018, her spoken-word poem “The Body is Not an Apology” went viral and laid the foundation of the international movement and groundbreaking book, both of the same name. Since then, she’s gone on to become a New York Times bestselling author and midwife known for her hot takes on Instagram.
Kellie Brown
Brown refers to herself as the Connoisseur of Cool, and we have to agree. She got her start on social media sharing her funky and vibrant fashion looks formerly as And I Get Dressed. Now she shares her fashion, thrifting, and interior decorating prowess under the handle @deeplymadlymodern. Brown is also the co-founder of @plussizefriendly, a traveling duo of plus-size Black creators.
Stephanie Yeboah
Fashion, travel, lifestyle — Yeboah does it all and then some. Known as one of the pioneers of the body positivity movement on Instagram, Yeboah has been creating content in the space for years, advocating for more self-love, more representation, and more joy in life. She reads you classics and soothes you to sleep on her podcast “Storytime with Stephanie” and is the author of “Fattily Ever After: A Black Fat Girl’s Guide to Living Life Unapologetically”.
David-King Fadd
You might recognize Fadd from a fashion show by a certain lingerie brand we know and love, Savage x Fenty by Rihanna. Fadd is a plus-size model known for his incredible style and his mission to encourage confidence, self-love, and body positivity among men.
Mia Maugé
“My battle with aging was won when I stopped fighting,” Maugé’s Instagram bio reads. She’s a Generation X model and public speaker passionate about age inclusivity, dismantling our youth-obsessed culture, and creating space for older women in the fashion and beauty world.
Gabrielle Gregg
Gregg, also known as @gabifresh on Instagram, is another body positivity pioneer and one of the very first plus-size models on Instagram. She started her own clothing line, Premme, which has since shuttered, and has launched numerous capsule collections with various lingerie brands like Playful Promises and Purple Cactus Lingerie.
Abena
A 25-year-old travel creator, Abena of @travellingtuesdays is the author of the ebook “The How To Guide: My First Solo Trip” and encourages young people to ditch the hustle and dive into affordable adventuring. Her colourful feed is full of swoon-worthy travel and fashion inspiration that will leave you craving a vacation.
Jodyann Morgan
Morgan is the owner and founder of Ctoan Co., a handmade candle business known for their beautiful molds of curvaceous bodies. Her body candles celebrate the human form and are designed from a gender-neutral perspective, meaning there are no female or male candles sold.
Olivia Campbell
A plus-size model and content creator, Campbell is a self-proclaimed baddie with a belly and is “here to help you fall in love with yourself.” The London-based model is known best for sharing curve-enhancing bathing suits and lingerie on her Instagram, along with enviable travel and streetwear pictures.
