Ayra Starr recently opened up about her time at a religious school and the challenges she faced because of her outspoken nature and individuality.
On the Afrobeats Intelligence podcast, the ‘Away’ singer disclosed that she attended a Deeper Life school even though her family was not particularly religious.
She spoke about the shock she felt when she first started attending the school, but she also revealed that she learned to live with the strict rules and regulations that were imposed on her.
However, her outspoken nature and her tendency to question things often put her at odds with her teachers and school administrators.
“I went to a very religious school. Even though I was not from a religious family. I went to a Deeper Life school. It was a shock but I learnt how to live with it.
“They used to beat me. I stood out too much. I grew up in a household where we were allowed to speak our truth and ask questions,” she said.
She spoke about the strict dress code at the school, which did not allow women to wear trousers.
Ayra Starr mentioned that she would often challenge this rule and ask her teachers to show her where it was stated in the Bible.
“Women are not allowed to wear trousers. I’ll be like ‘That’s not true. God did not say that’.
“They will say ‘What do you know? You this small girl’. I’m like show us if God said it.”
She also mentioned an incident where she painted one of her nails pink and was subsequently reprimanded by her teachers who told her that she would never be successful if she continued to defy the school’s rules.
“One time I painted my nail pink. Just one nail pink and one teacher saw it.
“I remember they knelt me down and all these teachers were just like ‘You can never be anything if you continue like this.
“I was literally like 13/14 and I had these female teachers around me saying that.”
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