Beauty Is... Lupita Nyong'o

People Magazine 

SPECIAL : Pyramid of Hope - Opral Mason Benson

Excerpt from my special profile on Opral Benson in October Issue of MANIA Magazine...

Often described as sensational for her enchanting elegance and superlative trendiness, cultural icon and philanthropist, Opral Mason Benson remains an epitome of African beauty and engaging intellect. Adeola Ojedokun takes a trip down memory lane of this woman of courage.

Born on February 7, 1935 at Mason Hill, Arthington - Northwest Monrovia, Liberia to Honourable Johnson Boto Mason and Lilly Melissa Mason they (her parents and grandparents elected to name her Opal (a bluish precious stone with iridescent reflections). They also called her Amanda, meaning “worthy of love”, but she did not like the name Opal for interesting reasons and though her parents thought the name was lovelyshe didn’t. she neither saw herself as precious nor as hard as a stone, so she began to write Opral on her school notebooks and while it took time she eventually succeeded in imposing the name change.