The Lion Queen

The First Lady

Let’s get this out of the way.  I’m aware that Chantal Biya:

• Is only the second first lady in the history of Cameroon since the country’s independence in 1960.  Her husband has been in power since 1982.
• Wears Chanel and Dior in a country where 40 percent of the country lives under the poverty level.
• Had writer Bertrand Teyou, author of  “The Belle of the Banana Republic: Chantal Biya, From the Streets to the Palace" arrested and jailed on charges of “insult to character.”
• Does not look like the majority of women in Cameroon and probably owes her rise to power, at least in part, to her light complexion. 

However, I have to admit that I find this woman fascinating and FABULOUS. My cousin Robin insists that we are somehow related to her and I have to agree! 

I think that I have seen my grandmother in a version of the green outfit

Biya has a bit of chub on her, which adds a youthfulness to her face (she's in her 40s).  She loves color and isn't afraid of a slash of blush and a strong red lip.  Because of her appearance at President Obama's Africa Summit, she has inspired a multitude of articles dripping with barely disguised condescension focusing on her hair.  However, I challenge anyone to explain to me how her hair is any more ridiculously over-the-top than Beyoncé's.  Here is an African woman who is taking European fashion, adding textures and prints from Cameroon and coming up with a blend that is bigger and badder than the originals.  She is always covered up, but not what anyone would call modest.

Her side-eye gives Michelle Obama a run for her money.

Seeing a picture I posted on Facebook, a friend commented "you cannot tell this woman that she is not fly" and that's exactly why I love her.   Regardless of whether she is meeting with Michelle Obama, The Pope, or infants in an orphanage she is boldly and unabashedly herself.  She is not trying to take a backseat to her husband, and she isn't afraid to make herself the center of attention regardless of the company that she's in.  She oozes confidence and independence.  Isn't that the exact opposite of what many expect from an African woman?

First Lady Footwear

And who knows?  Maybe she's a genius.  Maybe she knows that writers will concentrate on the spectacle that is her physical appearance, and ignore the fact that Islamic fundamentalists are gaining a foothold in her country and her 81 year old husband is powerless to do anything about it.  

All photos from: http://chantalbiyahair.tumblr.com

(When your hair has its own Tumblr you definitely have arrived!)