After spending her years interning and freelancing for some of Britain's most well know media publications for women, journalist Tobi Oredein grew increasingly frustrated with the lack of representation of black women on the pages and in the offices. In fact, Tobi felt so frustrated with lack of diversity in mainstream media she came to this conclusion...
Realising that waiting on the British media industry, which is 94% white, to wake up and give black women the opportunity to tell their stories on their own terms was futile, she decided to create Black Ballad in 2014. With the help of her co-founder, Bola Awoniyi, the pair created a website that has allowed black women to talk about the issues that are important to them. Black Ballad has covered a varied range of topics that include mental health, beauty, careers, politics, disability, dating and higher education - the only common thread among our journalism is that it is written by and for black women. After three years of being a free platform, in December 2016, Black Ballad ran a successful crowdfund to transition into a membership platform.
Our Mission?
Our mission with our new membership platform is to create conversations with our content, empower black women through our events and bring attention to the best black owned brands, by giving our members exclusive access to our directory. Our mission is simple: to create a media platform that helps black women in Britain live their best life.
Tobi and Bola by Tracey Watson.