The stigma of colorism has negatively impacted the self-esteem of many young black girls and women. For one model, her dark skin helped her give birth to a thriving modeling career with a net worth of $4 million.
Nyakim Gatwech, the 24-year old model known as the Queen of the Dark, was born in Ethiopia to South Sudanese parents who were forced to constantly move to different places as refugees due to conflict in the country. When she immigrated to the United States to Buffalo, New York, she had to adjust to a new culture that came with its challenges.
“I was fine with my self-esteem and I started being torn down by society, and I started looking at myself,” she said in an interview with CBS News. “Do I blend in with what the society considered to be beautiful?”
Gatwech moved to Minneapolis as a teenager and remained for high school and college. It was there where she walked with more confidence and blossomed, realizing the beauty in her features. She is now a professional model with more than 688,000 followers on Instagram that love her stunning photoshoots and her dark complexion. According to Celebrity How, her net worth is $4 million from endorsements and brand ambassador deals with major companies like Fashion Nova.
“She is black girl [excellence], she is me and I am her. My beautiful niece is the reason I do what I do so she doesn’t look at herself in the mirror and see anything else but beauty,” said Gatwech. “In a world that tries every day to tell us we’re not the beauty standard, I remind her and all the little black girls out there that they are drop-dead gorgeous, intelligent, brave outstanding and much more.”