A Sonoma County creative styles the strength of the Black community.
As Malia Anderson watched the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement play out across the nation, she wanted to join the protests in a way that resonated with her life’s work. A classically trained image consultant, Malia is the creative spark behind Style by Malia, a Santa Rosa–based brand consulting agency. Anderson works with women, professionals, and businesses throughout the Bay Area, helping people feel powerful in their personal style.
“I needed to protest in a way that was visual,” explains Anderson, who organized the June photoshoot of 17 Black women on the steps of the Museum of Sonoma County. Wearing vibrant jewel-toned hues, each woman sparkles in collective resistance to the police violence and historical racism that continues to plague America.
“I wanted people to understand Black women are the creator of movements,
not just the voices people report on.”—Malia Anderson
“I wanted people to understand Black women are the creator of movements, not just the voices people report on,” says Anderson. Shot by photographer Loren Hansen, the 17 women are Bay Area mothers, students, healers, county officials, and political activists. Anderson created the concept behind the powerful images and personally styled each woman.
This summer, small towns throughout Northern California joined the massive protests across America in response to the murder of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis. The Black Lives Matter movement dates back to 2013 when three organizers started using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman.
According to the independent research group Mapping Police Violence, police officers killed three people per day in 2019. Black people accounted for 24% of those killed, despite making up only roughly 13% of the population. And from 2013-2019, in 99% of killings by police, no officers were charged with a crime.
Protesters in San Francisco, Oakland, Santa Rosa, Ukiah, Fort Bragg, and Arcata took to the streets this summer to stand up to a federal government who has taken little action to address structural racism and violence in the U.S. Clad in masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, mothers, families, teenagers, immigrants, and Americans of every color and creed have endured tear gas, rubber bullets, and willful ignorance as they collectively demand systemic change in America. Enough is enough.
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