InStyle Magazine October 2013: Actress Danai Gurira

Right now, InStyle magazine has me smiling again with another beautiful editorial featuring one of my favorites and this time it's actress Danai Gurira. "The Walking Dead" star has been on a role lately and getting the recognition that she deserves.  I've got to give it to them because lately they have been consistent with editorials featuring celebrities of African descent in their magazine. Not that I need to be validated by them, but it's great to see these women beautifully represented and not ignored as if they don't exist.

Danai was photographed for this editorial by Jan Welters and styled by Joanne Blades in sculptural and modern contemporary pieces.

Photos: Jan Welters
Styling: Joanne Blades
Makeup: Kara Yoshimoto Bua
Hair: Cori Bardo

First Look: The Fabulous Naomi Campbell by Xevi Muntané for Harper’s Bazaar España October 2013

The best things about digital magazines is that I can buy the ones that I want to and flip through most of them on my tablet or laptop for a little change. I couldn't resist buying the October 2013 copy of Harper’s Bazaar España which features Naomi Campbell on the cover and in another beautiful editorial. I searched high and low on the internet for photos and couldn't find any, so I bought a copy of my own.

I admire Naomi even more for the courage that she, Iman and Bethann Hardison have shown in their fight for fairer representation of models of African descent on the catwalks all over the world and in the pages of several mainstream fashion magazines.

Her Royal Fierceness was photographed by Xevi Muntané and styled by Juan Cebrián 

Photos: Xevi Muntané

One To Watch: Actress Lupita Nyong'o

Actress Lupita Nyong'o

Leave it to the mainstream media to introduce to the world the type of beauty that often travels underneath the obscurity of the Afro-American media. I have been seeing this beautiful newcomer by the name of Lupita Nyong'o in almost every mainstream magazine and website promoting her latest movie, "Twelve Years A Slave," which she co-stars in with actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and others, everywhere.

Lupita Nyong'o was born in Mexico, to Kenyan parents and raised in Kenya much of her life. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama's Acting program. This marks Lupita's film debut in a major movie role and she's receiving the well-deserved accolades.

Rant: I've witnessed these type of incidents so many times, so I'm not surprised at all because of the lack of support she hasn't received from the black media and they, just like every one else promotes who they want to promote. As usual they won't write anything about her until there's a buzz just like many did with the actors of 'Fruitvale Station,' which I also saw all over the place during the international film festivals before the buzz hit the black press.

As I've wrote in many comment sections: It is the job of the Afro-American media to promote our people even when they're not popular and not be considered as an afterthought once the mainstream media promotes them. It's hypocritical to cry about exclusion when many of you practice the same exclusionary practices as those you whine about.

I'm not saying that I visit every niche website, but I do tend to read the so-called popular ones from time to to time and this has been on my mind for quite some, so I had to call them out for their hypocrisy and failure to set the tone and promotion of the diversity of black beauty.

 "Twelve Years A Slave" is directed by Steve McQueen and is based on the life of Solomon Northup and hits theaters 18 October 2013.

Photos: Getty Images

ESSENCE MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2013: Actresses Viola Davis and Danai Gurira Wow!

I feel like I've been down this path before writing about some of my favorite magazine issues, either way, it's something that I love to do. I've got to celebrate our beauty whenever I find it.

Actress Viola Davis looks beautiful on the cover of the October issue of Essence Magazine and the inside of the issue is chock full of several goodies for the eyes, complete with outstanding editorials that beg to be read.

Lets get back to Viola...all I can think of is, wow!!! She nailed this cover which was photographed by Nino Muñoz. The jewel colors look so elegant and radiant against her richly hued skin.

It pays to subscribe to your favorite magazines and my digital issue arrived in time. 

I almost died and went to beauty heaven when I clicked on the editorial featuring another beauty that I admire, actress, Danai Gurira.

They're right when the titled this: "Nobdy Can Danai" 

"Only fools attempt to deny our true beauty."

Danai rocked what appears to be sumptuous leathers with just the right amount of styling by, Jason Rembert, without the overkill as in  previous editorials that I've seen. Her beauty was captured by Gomillion and Leupold.

"It's all about self-love and the right to walk in this world the way we were created."

~ Actress Danai Gurira

Photos/Viola Davis: Nino Muñoz

Styling: Robert Behar

Photos/Danai Gurira: Gomillion and Leupold

Styling: Jason Rembert

I know that I didn't photograph these photos, but if you're going to take them, at least credit the source where you got them from.