✨ Year of the Bimbo ✨

Ashley or BB (she/her). Black & Grown. Writer & Hobby Artist.

[bimboopo]

they don't know that I don't know how to draw straight hair...

[bimboopo]

I also hate drawing ears.

[uptownlowdown]

✸ vintage black beauty is live!

i've been asked where/how to find early-mid 20th century images of black people to reference when drawing/writing/whatever, so i figured i'd link to my own personal resource anyone is welcome to utilize! :)

with over 900 pins and counting, this pinterest board focuses entirely on black style from the 1800s - 1970s. it’s been harder than ever to research historical fashion without running into AI, misinformation, and flat out mislabeling of different eras, so i’ve done my best to represent each period as accurately as i can.

i’ve included sections for non-caricatured art and illustration, print media, music, entertainment, styling tools, and ads. there are also sections for period pieces and more modern takes on vintage style. i did not add the 80s and 90s because there's already a wealth of imagery and information about those decades, but maybe one day :)

*NOTE: i am not a professional archivist or historian! just a black american passionate about my history. as such, this board is heavily centered on black americans and afro-caribbeans, although there are photos from across the diaspora, including africa and the UK.

*additionally: pins on pinterest come from all over and may not always have the correct information, depending on who uploaded it. while i’ve taken great lengths to research undated photos, some categorized pins are educated guesses based on the hair, fashion, or photography style of the photo. uncategorized pins are photos i can’t confidently connect to a specific decade without potentially mislabeling.

with this in mind, this board acts as a handy visual guide, but should be used in addition to your own research. happy researching! 🖤

[naderalanqar2007]

If my father passes away, please remember that I begged you for a small donation or to share his post. I will not forgive anyone who sees this post and doesn't support it with a single word or a small donation, and simply ignores it.

[naderalanqar2007]

I write this letter trembling with fear for my father. He has been suffering excruciating pain from cancer, and I cannot afford all the medications he needs due to their high cost. All I wish is for him to stop suffering every day, so I implore you to stand by him and help him purchase his medications as soon as possible.

Please donate.

[naderalanqar2007]

Worse still, his health has deteriorated sharply, and he has great difficulty moving. The pain and weakness have rendered him unable to lead a normal life. He urgently needs medical attention and ongoing treatment to improve his condition, but the cost of treatment is prohibitively expensive for us. Currently, he cannot sleep comfortably due to the constant pain, and he cannot afford the medications and painkillers that might alleviate his suffering because of their high prices.

[naderalanqar2007]

He needs your help to alleviate his pain and save him as quickly as possible. Please, he doesn't want to die. Help us raise the necessary funds for his treatment and surgery as soon as possible Stand by him. Please donate.

[nibeul]

Nader and his family are still under constant threat, and his father is in immense pain! Please, consider donating and sharing this post!!

[squeakst]

sharing from my Facebook

[squeakst]

True North Aid provides practical humanitarian support to northern and remote Indigenous communities in Canada through community-led project

If you care as much as i do, please donate or at least spread the word about true north aid.

[rajieeeee]

linework.

[achimastar]

Lady luck-Jupiter deross 🎲🍀🤞🐞

Don't gamble people

[bimboopo]

The ring that you gave me / It was glass and broke, / the love you had for me / It was little and it was over. Cauã singing Ciranda, Cirandinha to his little brother Isael.

Ref'd photography from joshuakissi on IG

[alwaysbeenjessica]

this summer i am WRITING and PAINTING and READING and GETTING OFF OF MY EVIL IPHONE

[creatingblackcharacters]

Which character do you think this is? 👀👀👀

Find out during the Melanin Beam Challenge!

Event is between August 7th and August 9th! If you are already finished with your pieces and you want to queue them, send them in when the asks are open! If you haven't started working on it yet, it's time to start!

Looking forward to everyone's creativity! Let's get #melanin back on the top Tumblr tags, this year!

[bimboopo]

Random 11 pm thought, but I never understood why some artists refuse to share the brushes they use when asked 😭😭

[gleamiarts]

redesign sketches for one of my magical girl comics! :D

[creatingblackcharacters]

"For years Black parents believed that getting our children into better schools and neighborhoods was the surest path to opportunity. But now many of us are wondering: what does it cost to be the only Black child in the room?

Look, our kids being in predominantly white spaces can open doors. There’s no question about that. But we must understand that there is an underside to those opportunities. The question many parents should be asking isn’t just what our children gain from these spaces, but also what they might lose if we aren’t intentional about keeping them grounded in their own culture.

Let’s face facts. When we talk about raising Black kids in predominantly white spaces, we usually focus on academics and future opportunities. What we also need to discuss is what constantly being “the only one” does to a child’s sense of identity.

Research shows us that Black children as young as 10 are viewed as older and less innocent than white children. (10! They are only babies.) That means many of our kids learn early that they have to think about how they’re perceived in ways their classmates who need sunblock 3000 to go outside in the summer never do. They become experts at managing how the present themselves to others before they are even old enough to understand why.

But there is another, greater danger. And it’s something much quieter that you might not know is happening before it’s too late."

Article HERE

Because I've been asked about it, Imma share this article that came across my dash. 👍🏾

[bimboopo]

All my life, now I realize / I've been waiting for you all this time

[weirdgirl247]

every year small towns and indigenous communities across canada are burnt to nothing by horrific wildfires and americans go on the internet to complain about it and blame us bc the smoke has spread to their state. i’m so tired.

go yell at mark carney or your own local politicians about climate change and urge them to do more to stop it. the namaygoosisagagun first nation had their community destroyed today. you can find a link to donate to them here. donate to your local food bank. go to the beach next week when the smoke clears and you don’t have to think about it anymore while the people who’s lives have been destroyed will have to pick up the pieces and try to move forward when we are already in a huge cost of living crisis across the country.

[weirdgirl247]

rbing with other places you can donate to to support those impacted by the fires!

true north aid (an organization aimed at providing support to remote/northern indigenous people in canada)

canadian red cross wildfire fund

ontario spca and humane society (links to their donate page specifically aimed at supporting pets and animals in areas impacted by the fires)

and the anishinabek nation’s page where you can donate to support the namaygoosisagagun nation who had their land destroyed by the fires is still accepting donations

[the-quasar-hero]

You can make a movie with where the only white character is a man named Ray Cism whose one line of his 16 seconds of screen time is “I seriously hate women and minorities.” and you’ll find fifty bajillion reader x Ray Cism fanfics and renaissance style drawings of him with a halo of golden light

[mxrmaiiid]

Domestic Delicacy 🪴✨

finally finished my Valko x Esmeralda (MC oc) art!! 😆✨ i’ve been teasing this all week on IG and earlier this morning i decided “why not write a cute lil story to go with it?” cause im extra 😅🙂‍↕️💅🏾✨

(i also like having different ocs for the different love interests (LIs) in the game, so my usual mains (Zayne, Sylus, & Rafayel) have different ocs & the girlies are all friends since they all met and work at the Hunter’s Association 🙂‍↕️✨)

read the blurb under the cut!! 😚✨

(PLS DO NOT COPY/TRACE/AI TRAIN.)

CW: suggestive, down bad Valko, new-ish establish relationship (haven’t done tags on here so even though i read a lot of fanfics, i dunno what I’m doing on here 😭😂✋🏾 if you see typos nO you don’t 🙂‍↕️👍🏾)

some Esmeralda head cannon notes:

• she has a cute tattoo of a lily of the valley on her hip

• she’s real closed off when you first meet her cause she has issues with getting too close to ppl for them to eventually leave—she finds a family with the girlies from work and later Valko

• if she wasn’t a hunter, she would’ve been a baker with a bakery cafe called “little emerald’s” (a nickname her mother used to call her)

• lost her mother when she was 6(?) and have been bounced from home to home till she aged out the system (hence not being able to get close to ppl)

that’s all i got so far, but i think she’s neat!! 🥹💜✨

i’ve been reading a lot of Valko fanfics on tumblr this weekend, so i was further inspired to finish this illustration & write a lil cute thing 🥹🥹 pls lemme know what you think!!

and yes, the plushies are them!! 🥹🥹🥹💜💜✨✨✨ Es bought them at the store on the way home and gave him the lamb & she kept the wolf 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🤧🤧🤧 don’t tell her she’s smitten, she’ll deny 😂😭😂✋🏾

[thekindblacksmith]

Oh Blacksmith, what a fool you are....