CLARA
“Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be my natural self.”
“Ever since I was a kid, I liked being my natural self. But coming from African descent, we were used to straightening our hair.”
Right off the bat, she knew it wasn't her. But when you're a kid being raised by a single working mother, you don't exactly get to make the rules. Her mom didn't have time to tame Clara's thick hair, so it got braided or relaxed. At least until she was old enough to call her own shots.
“I just had to go with the flow, but when it was time to move out and do my own stuff, that's when I came back to my natural self.”
Clara Opoku’s style is deceptively simple, but behind her easygoing demeanor is a creative powerhouse. Published author, songwriter and performer, public speaker…and that's barely scratching the surface of her Instagram bio.
For Clara, self-expression is just a natural state of being.
Smothered by the status quo
Clara has always felt most comfortable in her natural hair. But growing up in Europe with African roots meant navigating a world where straight hair was the norm.
Finding the simplicity to be herself
The moment Clara moved out, she let her hair do its natural thing.
“I'm a very easygoing person, that's how I've actually always been. And that's why I started locing my hair.”
Locs gave her the wash-and-go life she craved. No hours of maintenance or Sunday styling marathons. Just her hair doing what it wants to do. Plus, they look fly as f*ck.
“I don't like being complicated.. not with my hair, clothes, or general things in life. This is simple. This is how I get to be myself, and embrace nature as it is.”
There's freedom in keeping things simple. These days, she only visits Anoeska and The Natural Nation a few times per year. The rest of the time? She's free to pour her energy into everything else she's creating.
The moment her book launched marked a pivotal moment in her life. One that saw her reclaiming her power and rising from the ashes to shape a new identity.
Not the victim, but the victor
Clara doesn’t just write for herself. She writes for all the women who came before her. The aunts, mothers, and grandmothers who'd endured the same pain but never had the words, the platform, or the permission to speak it out loud.
"They've been through the same, but they were not able to express themselves. So I figured if I'm able to write it off my chest, hopefully somebody else would get inspired in their situation."
Telling her story in her own words
From a young age, Clara knew she had a story to tell. Rapping, writing, and creating were more than just hobbies. They were her stepping into her own identity.
"I always knew that as a kid that my story was different from my peers. Even as a child, I wanted to write my own autobiography."
In 2017, she did exactly that. Her first book Diary: When My Lips Were Sealed, My Heart Spoke is a raw, unflinching memoir about surviving a catastrophic relationship and learning to use her voice when it mattered most.
This story is part of Natural Identity, a portrait series uplifting Black voices and hair journeys in and around Amsterdam.
She wants to be proof that through the pain something beautiful can come. That standing up for yourself and expressing your truth can help you heal from even the most devastating situations.
"My creativity helped me not to become the victim, but the victor, and to become an inspiration for others who might have been going through the same."
Clara has always been determined to be exactly who she is. Through every transformation, every breakdown, every fresh start, one thing has remained constant: her courage to be nothing less than her natural self.
Images by Jennifer Grube
Writing by Caitlin McCarthy
