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BLM Advocate Zyanha Bryant Scores Dove Partnership To Address ‘Fat Liberation’

Charlottesville, VA - Aug. 3: Zyahna Bryant wrote a petition in March of 2016 asking the City of Charlottesville to take down a statue of Robert E. Lee from a city park during her freshman year at Charlottesville High School. She was photographed in the sancturary of Sojourners United Church of Christ, Friday August 3, 2018 (Photo by Norm Shafer/ For The Washington Post via Getty Images).

A Black Lives Matter activist is shining a light on plus-size women. After being accused of getting a white student expelled from her school, Black Lives Matter activist Zyahna Bryant has scored a partnership with Dove for a “fat liberation” campaign, the NY Post reports.

The University of Virginia student announced on her Instagram profile that she was a “Dove ambassador” while she spoke out about the stigma of being overweight.

“My belief is that we should be centering the voices and the experiences of the most marginalized people and communities at all times,” Bryant said in the video.

“So when I think about what fat liberation looks like to me, I think about centering the voices of those who live in and who maneuver through spaces and institutions in a fat body.”

The community leader was instrumental in getting the Robert E. Lee statue taken down in

Charlottesville and has been praised for her activism work. But her new partnership has drawn some backlash. 

Bryant worked with the school to get a white student, Morgan Bettinger, expelled over alleged remarks referring to a BLM activist. Bryant claimed she heard Bettinger refer to protesters as “good speed bumps” but later admitted to having “misheard” her.

According to Daily Mail, Dove is being hit with threats of a boycott from angry washers. Charlottesville native Carol Thorpe posted a picture on X, formerly known as Twitter, of several bars of Dove soap in the garbage. “After hearing that Dove Beauty chose Zyahna Bryant—who ruined Morgan Bettinger’s life—for their ‘fat acceptance ambassador,’” Thorpe wrote.

“THIS lifelong large lady & now former Dove customer tossed out the last three bars of Dove product she will EVER buy. I have written to Unilever too.”

Another X user chimed in on the issue, saying, “Shame on Dove for hiring her. Worse than Dylan Mulvaney. #BoycottDove,” referring to Bud Light’s partnership with the transgender influencer and activist. The platform’s owner, Elon Musk, even had something to say, calling the partnership “messed up.”

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