The former Obama Administration White House and ACLU employee spent 15-years fighting for the rights and voices of marginalized communities.
For avid traveler, fashionista, wife and mother Tenicka Boyd, social justice advocacy runs deep in her veins. With more than fifty countries visited to-date, the former Obama Administration White House and ACLU employee spent 15-years fighting for the rights and voices of marginalized communities. Now, she furthers that same work as she travels the world full-time.
“Caring about the world, believing deeply in the liberation of marginalized people, is just at the core of who I am,” Boyd told EBONY. “It's how I was raised. It's a part of who I am as a person. When I strip away the fancy clothes and the makeup, I am very much a person committed to justice.”
As the now travel influencer navigates the world doting her favorite pieces from Black-owned Fe Noel or Andrea Iyamah, she takes time studying the fault lines of countries so that as an American she’s being conscious of the way she shows up in certain spaces and places.
“For the continent of Africa specifically, I want to always be of service while shining a light on its beauty and quietly contributing to its improvement.”
From the welcoming aura of the South African people or the Pan African renaissance happening in Ghana, Boyd emphasizes that as Black Americans, we need to get to these places now to not only revel in the beauty of the Motherland but to also take part in such a pivotal and poignant moment in history.
“I think about how different my world would have been if I'd not started traveling even when I had little money. I think about how less empathetic I'd be. How much less I'd understand about the world. How little faith I'd have in the possibilities.”
And the true beauty of Boyd’s work is, she takes her 15-year-old daughter along with her, something she wasn’t able to experience growing up. Providing these opportunities for her daughter to see and explore the world early on helps shape and mold her in ways that a textbook or classroom setting never could. She encourages other parents to do the same, if they can.
“My story is interesting, perhaps,” Boyd said. “But the real story is that I get to raise a 15-year-old Black American girl, who’s been to over 50 countries around the world. Who knows her way around Paris. A child who has learned just as much at the Acropolis in Greece as she has in the classroom. Who knows the continent of Africa, up close and personal. Who has danced to the sounds of Afrobeats with her cousin in Accra, who has stood on Goree Island in Senegal and heard the story of her ancestors, who has eaten fresh fish out of the ocean in Camps Bay in South Africa, and who knows more about Africa than what is shown in western media.”
The work that Boyd continues to do, worldwide, isn’t a one-woman job. Rather, it’s work that we all can contribute to. The African Diaspora is diverse, and doesn’t necessarily mean that we must only travel to Africa to show up for marginalized communities. It starts by supporting Black-owned businesses everywhere— from our backyards and beyond.
“It's so important for Black Americans to experience the diversity of the African Diaspora. I have also done so by connecting with art communities to buy from local artisans and understand the stories and cultural significance of their pieces. In Paris, I've found some incredible Senegalese food, learned the history of Afro-Caribbeans who heavily contributed to France as we know it, as well as patronized some of the best vintage stores in the world owned by Black people.”
In an industry that typically caters to the white experience, Boyd continues to proudly and unapologetically shows us the Black experience—one country and community at a time.
