7 Black bloggers and influencers you need to know about

If you're looking for a way to support the black community this Black History month and beyond, follow, share and connect with these brilliant online content creators

October marks Black History Month - a time to amplify black voices and support black owned brands where we can.

This year's BHM theme is "actions not words", encouraging the public to put their money where their mouths are and actively support the black community. Proactive ways to do this include reading, donating and activism. But it also extends to smaller virtual actions, like following, sharing and connecting with the brilliant blogs and social media accounts of black bloggers and influencers in the UK. All minority groups need to be more visible, and we must all be committed to the change.

Keep scrolling for some black bloggers and influencers to have on your radar.

Melissa Holdbrook - Akposoe 

So Stormzy has a new song, Mel Made Me Do It, and this is the Mel that can do it. A celebrity fashion stylist, interior designer and beauty and lifestyle entrepreneur, renowned for her classic style and luxury taste. Melissa utilises her platforms and encyclopaedic brand knowledge to educate and inform her followers on any and every product and piece she currently has on rotation. Her honesty and charming personality coupled with her killer style and eye for design are what makes her so unique and sets her apart in the styling world. She has also recently launched her dedicated lifestyle website and platform ‘It’s a Lifestyle Hun’ which covers fashion, wellness, food, interiors, travel, skincare and more.

Keep It Simp-Elle

Elle Linton is a 30-something fitness pro, entrepreneur and masters student, based in Essex. Her blog gives professional insight into health and fitness, but keeps things very real. Posts like ‘Why there’s more to a healthy lifestyle than 'getting fit' and ‘Talking tax & expenses for fitness professionals’ are interesting, engaging and insightful.

My Breaking Views

Adebola, a self-described country bumpkin from Swindon who now lives in London, was recently announced as one of Tomorrows Travel Leader of 2020. She uses her blog (we love the name, FYI) to share tools, tips and tricks to get more people to move abroad and explore this beautiful earth. She writes, ‘Hopefully, My Breaking Views will encourage you to escape your comfort zone and taste foods from around the world’. We couldn’t love this more.

Somi Igbene

Somi is a plant-based foodie, biomedical scientist, nutritional therapist, fitness lover, wellness enthusiast, wife and mum of two. Keeping up? She loves all things natural and plant-based, but to be clear, she is no fanatic. Her plan? To share progressive, health-focused knowledge and to inspire readers to create a well-rounded, meaningful life that you love. Sounds like a good plan.

Candice Brathwaite

A ‘Mummy Blogger’, influencer and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse - an online initiative that aims to encourage a more accurately representative and diverse depiction of motherhood in the media - Candice is a busy businesswoman keen to show that young black families weren’t just surviving, but thriving. Her blog covers everything from her own life to tackling bigger issues (think mental health, colourism and male circumcision). And she's never afraid to tell it like it is. A very admirable trait.

 Leanne Lindsey

Leanne is a qualified careers adviser and certified life coach. She's also a huge self-care advocate and uses her online space to share simple, practical tips and insights on self-care, wellness and journaling, within an overall theme of personal development, healing, growth and transformation. Her blog is super readable, and she writes posts such as ‘Simple self-care for your mind and spirit’ and '5 tips for getting your motivation back'.

Adrienne London

Adrienne is a motivational speaker, coach, podcast host and Adidas Global Ambassador. Put simply, she’s a voice of inspiration and encouragement. She is also the co-founder of GetToKNOW – a network and community for women in the creative industries – and most recently, she launched a weekly podcast. The Power Hour features a variety of guests (from Fearne Cotton to Fleur East) and in it Adrienne finds out their daily habits, routines, rules to live by and what they have learnt along the way. Well worth a listen.