Martina Big made headlines last year after she revealed that she wanted to become a Black woman. Big, a model who resides in Los Angeles and Germany, decided to undergo a racial transformation to what she perceived as Blackness.
As a result, Big spent thousands of dollars to enhance her breasts, nose, lips and buttocks. She even posted on social media that her hair resembled curly “African hair.”
“I have great news. I had [sic] done the next step in my transformation to a black woman. Yesterday I was with an African hairdresser and got a hair extension with curly, African hair. To become more and more a black woman, that is such a wonderful feeling. I’m so happy. Next, I’ll have consultations for the butt enlargement and for the African facial features,” Martina Big wrote on her Facebook page.
Over the past year, Big continued to tan and search for ways to become Black.
She recently went to the East African country, Kenya, to get baptized under a new name. Big eventually changed her name to Malaika Kubway, Swahili for big angel, and believes that she is now a true African woman, according to the Daily Mail.
In 2015, Rachel Dolezal made headlines after a reporter discovered that she was passing as Black and claimed that her father was Black. It was eventually discovered that Dolezal was a White woman who was raised in Lincoln County, Montana. She enrolled at Howard University and became a branch president of the NAACP in Spokane, Washington. But she encountered backlash due to her numerous lies. Dolezal is now braiding hair in her home.
Dolezal and Big both represent the essence of “White privilege.” They both believe that they can try on a racial identity as if it were an accessory, failing to realize the problem of continuously performing in blackface.
