A Model From One Of The Design Indaba Fashion Shows
(Love The Hair!)
The Design Indaba Expo is a celebration of South Africa’s wealth of creativity. Which includes advertising, architecture, craft, décor, film, fashion, graphic design, interior design, jewellery, new media, publishing, product design and visual media, are all presented together. Each of the over 260 exhibitors is evaluated and endorsed by an advisory panel of top South African designers, stylists, critics and industry experts. Setting a high curatorial standard, all products are original, contemporary and innovative, not to mention conceived and manufactured in South Africa.
The Design Indaba Expo 2010 was open to the public and was held from Friday 26 February to Sunday 28 February.A chock-a-block daily programme of additional activities will fuel the buzz. All-day fashion shows, a short-film festival, the new Design Indaba Kids workshops, a suave designer bar, tantalising designer food and daily Pecha Kucha presentations by leading local creative artist are just some of the highlights to look forward to. Check out some of the fabulous photos below:
International Design All Stars from every discipline under the sun have been showing off their inventive prowess at the Design Indaba Conference since 1995. Drawing fans from creative, corporate and educational sectors alike, the conference has become the playing field for the imaginative at heart. Even one of my favorite entrepreneurs do-it-yourself mavens Martha Stewart was there and I'm sure she will feature the event on her television show.
(Photos:Michelly Rall)
Ever since Monique and Gabourey Sidibe have been nominated for an Academy Award, some ignorant African Americans have lost their frigging minds because of it! So what they don't fit the idea image of an African American woman as a lighter hued, slender woman throwing her weave, wig or real hair in the wind as she walks down the red carpet- they're still human beings and worthy of respect! It's been all over the web mostly coming from ignorant African American bloggers who think that once they receive some semblance of an education they think they know everything! News Flash! You don't!
Hopefully there will come a day when some us will learn that our worth is not determined or influenced by a character that one plays or an audience that one captures. In my teens it was Cicely Tyson and Diahann Carrol who were once nominated for Academy Awards for what some perceived as stereotypical black characters that also met the same disdain from black folk, now come 2010, Monique and Gabby are enduring the same black wrath. God forbid that they lose, then the haters will be finally vindicated and elated with pure joy. I'm sure it was the same thing for my mother in the 1940's and beyond.
As I often say, when people don't who they are -they will always struggle because they think that others define them. Those who know very little about their own "STORY" will believe all that is written without regards to the era and what these women had to endure before Hollywood and America became more accommodating of Black people to include black actresses.
Maybe if the majority of African Americans would stop looking for validation, acceptance, inclusion and love from everyone else, you'd have in your own hearts and these types of conversations,lists and topics wouldn't come up. Having this list of prominent African American women and the role Tyler Perry plays,Medea based only on their physical characteristics does not serve to advance us as women, but only serves as a continued division among us. People may not like any of the characters they have played, but yours is only an opinion and you know the statement. So here's my honest opinion because I've got one also. All characters are stereotyped when it comes to entertainment and it's up to us to be able to decipher which is real and those which aren't.
What some of you perceive as servitude basically is not, but a way for these type to persevere in spite of the realities they faced. It was "The Mammy" who endured whatever indignities after years of servitude who has given back to our communities in the forms of money and educational opportunities ahead of her own. It is "The Mammy" who knows that to have a myopic view of the world is also a "career killer" which doesn't open up avenues of success to you and is a limitation and a label she does not wear.
Maybe if they did a little research they'd also find out how those they may think of as "the ingenue" also served as the "concubine" stereotype in that painful past of American History we often like to dredge up by telling half-truths, who still happens to receive the largest amount of admiration and adoration from many people today based solely on their looks. I have several of these older movies in my collection and never once did I judge these women as degrading and unworthy of reverence.
However, I was made painfully aware of the different roles that many of them were offered to play in Hollywood based upon what they looked like, which is sadly in practice today. Those who exhibit what many perceive as "The Mammy" stereotype don't receive anything but constant ridicule and criticism, while often gaining the highest amount of influence. While I admire the hues that women of African descent possess, these are the types of alienation's that will never unify us as a people. We've got to learn to move beyond skin hue and size and concentrate on the talent of these actresses and what each and everyone of them brought to the table.
I'll take influential, intelligence, aspirational and inspiring over beauty any day of the week. One thing that I've learned that when we attempt to malign others, it really is the individual talking about themselves. Some people criticize exactly who they are-you know the mirror image effect- it takes one to know one adage. What I'm getting from all of this negativity pertaining to these women being winners and nominated for Academy Awards is that some people still don't know how to separate fiction from reality.
I'll support Tyler Perry or any other producer of Black entertainment just as long as they employ black men and women. If your only job is lip-service and inactivity than your opinion is moot to me. Put your money where your mouth is and support that struggling film student who needs financial backing or create your own. I'm smart enough to know that the black man and woman is not a one dimensional character but are varied individuals that encompass every tier there is.
In the words of the great Hattie McDaniel who once stated, "it's better to play a maid or mammy than to be one. Hollywood keeps pushing the envelope of what is perceived as beauty, but who should accept this view? I certainly don't? As a people we should know better to judge these women who have been insulted, and labelled most of their lives because of how they look. They have certainly left a huge impact on my life, why can't we spend more time writing about their talents and how much of an impact they had on people who were living in the Segregated South at the time or in an America that was not accepting them?
These two beautiful women, Gabourey Sidibe and Monique are on the ride of their lives, so lets not make this ride turbulent with negative comments and insults because they deserve what they've earned. If we can not uplift them then we can not uplift ourselves and believe me it's showing that we can't do so.
"Who knew that "Mammy" was the modern name or label black women call over achieving black women who they think are sell-outs? What have many of you done that will propel our community to the top other than criticize the accomplishments of others? This is from the response that I left on another website. It may be long but I stand on the shoulders of greatness, no matter what job they served in or where they were in society and they still deserve my respect and reverence because we all have benefited from them!
(Photo:Getty Images)
Leave it to the international editions of magazines to be the first when it comes to showing diversity, too bad their American counterparts have yet to be so courageous when it comes to inclusion. Fashionistas everywhere can now get a daily dose of Italian and European style and also visit a section of Vogue Italia solely dedicated to models of color, writers, artist and so on and even Vogue Curvy.
Thanks, Shala for these delicious morsels of style bites. Thanks are definitely in order for Franca Sozzani, the Editor of Vogue Italia who gave us one of ( probably) the best selling issues(The Black Issue) in Vogue Italia's publishing history and shows us the love!
Maybe she can teach you know who a thing or two when it comes to selling magazines and let her know that style and fashion is global and is accessible to everyone and having a woman of African heritage, Hispanic, or Asian woman on an American VOGUE cover can and will sell magazines! Style is not meant to offend, only an ignorant individual would think so!
Another beautiful model who also hails from la República Dominicana, Reina Montero. Reina has been busy during Fashion Week by modeling in several shows and has done a few editorials. Look out for La Reina because she too will be one to watch!
Congratulations to Rosa Cordero on her beautiful French Vogue cover. The digital world is abuzz by the news of what some say is historic. She's a teenager so she's got a little more longevity to be a fashion model.
On a serious note, I personally need to look inside the issue to see if there's more to the cover that meets the eye, such as advertisements featuring models of different ethnicity's or editorials. One thing that puzzles me, has anyone else noticed that international fashion publications use models while their American counterparts do not???
Attention American publishers to include Essence Magazine!!! We- the American and international public are completely exhausted of seeing celebrities on the covers of your magazines! All of us are not celebrity obsessed as you all think we are! I'd buy a magazine if there was a model on the cover before I'd buy one featuring the celebrity of the moment!
First of all, what can I say about this woman that the world doesn't already know? One of the most iconic and influential women on the planet, media mogul, philanthropist and icon- Oprah Winfrey! I don't care what her haters call her because she is no "Mammy" and I think her haters need to redefine what that word means when they attempt to denigrate her and our women ancestors, even though bonded by the shackles of slavery built this nation and the nations throughout the world!
Those same "Mammy's" built this great nation as we know of today! Through their resilience and perseverance is what brought our people through the misery and dehumanization of Slavery from here to South and Central America and to the Caribbean, the strength of the African woman is what has allowed us to survive and thrive in societies which attempted to deny us our humanity. On her back- even to this very day she carries our futures which is still the bridge to our prosperity as a people.
Oprah raised the bar and is still the torch bearer of how we can define success for ourselves. She taught us to explore the world and make connections with those who can also inspire and enlighten our reach. Oprah Winfrey is now the owner of her very OWN Network- I love those initials and it's something we all should aspire to- to own everything about ourselves- our images- our identities and our own businesses.
When you let your differences limit your possibilities, you will also live a life based on your own limitations and those of what others have told you. I believe that support is life's greatest strength. That's why I proudly support those who give so much of themselves to make a difference in the lives of others and Oprah Winfrey is such an individual.
Actress, Poet and Songtress-Jill (Jilly From Philly) Scott
I'm loving Jill Scott's beautiful Afro! This lady wears the Afro like no one else can and she has me now wanting to break out the pick and restyle my own hair into a fro! Over the years Jill has given us various natural hair ideas and a style all her own and I love her for giving it to us straight. Jill is also a new mommy, to a baby boy named Jett Hamilton Roberts.
Be sure to show your love to Jill by watching the Lifetime Movie Network's Original Movie- Sins of the Mother, a touching story about the harsh realities of love, forgiveness and the closest of bonds between mother and daughter, which is based on author Carleen Brice's moving novel, Orange Mint and Honey, the film features Scott as reformed alcoholic named Nona. Sins of the Mother will premiere Sunday, February 21, 2010, at 8pm ET/5pm PT, on Lifetime Movie Network.
Look at the "Glorious Afro" this Queen is wearing!
Be sure to also show your love by supporting Jill Scott and the rest of the cast of the movie “Why Did I Get Married Too?” which hits theaters on April 2 of this year.
Hail To The Queen
The Black Queen has ruled … and will continue to rule. Her realm is universal and extends beyond geographic boundaries and political ideologies.~MBA
Dancer, choreographer and philanthropist-Judith Jamison
Judith Anna Jamison (born May 10, 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American dancer and choreographer, best known as the artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
Jamison began studying dance at age 10. She graduated from Germantown High School in 1961, and attended Fisk University at the age of 15 and the Philadelphia Dance Academy. In 1964, Agnes de Mille invited Jamison to dance in her ballet "The Four Marys" at the American Ballet Theatre.
Jamison moved to New York City in 1965 and joined the Alvin Ailey company. She soon became a principal dancer for Ailey and remained with the company until 1980. Among her most notable roles were "The Prodigal Prince" (1967), "Masekela Language" (1969), and especially "Cry" (1971), a 15-minute solo piece.
Jamison left the Alvin Ailey company to star in the Broadway musical Sophisticated Ladies, also based on Duke Ellington's music. During the 1980s, she began choreographing her own works. When Alvin Ailey died in 1989, Jamison was named artistic director of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. She has choreographed many works for the company since then.
Jamison's numerous awards include Kennedy Center Honors (1999) and the National Medal of Arts (2001). She won a prime time Emmy Award and an American Choreography Award for Outstanding Choreography for the PBS "Great Performances: Dance In America" special, "A Hymn for Alvin Ailey." She wrote an autobiography, "Dancing Spirit", published in 1993.
Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist. Although she disliked being categorized, Simone is most associated with jazz music. Simone originally aspired to become a classical pianist, but her work covers an eclectic variety of musical styles that include classical, jazz, blues, soul, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Her vocal style was characterized by intense passion, a loose vibrato, and a slightly androgynous timbre, in part due to her unusually low vocal range which veered between the alto and tenor ranges (occasionally even reaching baritone lows). Also known as The High Priestess of Soul, she paid great attention to the musical expression of emotions.Simone recorded over 40 live and studio albums, the greatest body of her work being released between 1958
Celia Cruz (born in Havana, Cuba as Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on October 21, 1925 – July 16, 2003) was a Cuban salsa singer, and was one of the most successful Salsa performers of the 20th century, with twenty-three gold albums to her name. She was renowned internationally as the "Queen of Salsa" as well as "La Guarachera de Cuba". Throughout her lengthy career, Celia received numerous awards and citations for her wonderful gift of song. Celia may have left us physically-but her spirit lives on forever. It's carnival season all over the world and just to hear her yell- "¡Azúcar! I know it's time to start dancing in the streets!
Viva La Reina!
Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl is a French freelance journalist, activist, a reporter and columnist for Glamour magazine. She is the widow of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002. Mariane Pearl is best known for her memoir, A Mighty Heart, which deals with the events surrounding her husband's kidnapping and assassination, which was latter adapted into the film A Mighty Heart.
Born Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927, in Laurel, Mississippi in the United States) is an American operatic soprano. She is best known for the title role of Verdi's Aida. Born in the segregated Deep South, she rose to international fame during a period of racial change in the 1950s and 60s, and was the first African-American to become a leading prima donna at the Metropolitan Opera. Having a father who ensured that his children were not pigeonholed into thinking less than and that we had no culture, my father made sure we knew we were descended from greatness.
Leontyne Price's operatic recordings were a part of my fathers extensive album collection and to this very day I still listen to classical music in all of it's various forms. I always joke with my mother that she should have named me Leontyne, which would had been a fitting honor of being named after my father since she says we are so alike.
Parents, teach and instill in your children our "STORY" as it's relates to our people and the invaluable
contributions to society that they have giving to the entire world. Our "STORY" is not only befitting to be recognised in the shortest month of the year- but the entire year, celebrated 365 days a year, 24 hours a day-every day!
Alice Walker, critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning author of the "Color Purple" and has written several other novels, including "The Temple of My Familiar" and "Possessing the Secret of Joy" (which featured several characters and descendants of characters from The Color Purple) and has published a number of collections of short stories, poetry, and other published works. Alice Walker's high level of commitment to activism begins with maintaining women's rights to ending wars.
"Activist, Educator and Intellectual, Kathleen Neal Cleaver "
At one time Kathleen Cleaver was a very prominent member of The Black Panther Party and was once married to one of the founding members, Eldridge Cleaver. Any individual over the age of forty remembers how the lives of those in The Black Power Movement turned out. After Eldridge’s legal situation was resolved, Kathleen went back to school in 1981, receiving a full scholarship from Yale University. She graduated in 1983, summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. In 1987, Kathleen divorced Eldridge Cleaver.
She then continued her education by getting her law degree from Yale Law School. After graduating, Cleaver worked for the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore, and followed this with numerous jobs including: law clerk in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia, the faculty of Emory University in Atlanta, visiting faculty member at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, the Graduate School of Yale University and Sarah Lawrence College.
In 2005, she was selected an inaugural Fletcher Foundation Fellow. She then worked as a Senior Research Associate at the Yale Law School, and a Senior Lecturer in the African American Studies department at Yale University. She is currently serving as faculty at Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni is a Grammy-nominated American poet, activist and author, intellectual and shero. Nikki Giovanni is currently a Distinguished Professor of English at Virginia Tech. The civil rights and black power movements inspired her early poetry that was collected in Black Feeling, Black Talk (1967), Black Judgment (1968), and Re: Creation (1970).
She has since written more than two dozen books including volumes of poetry, illustrated children's books, and three collections of essays. What great books of poems to read to your young children and grandchildren. I admire Nikki because she speaks her mind. Shouldn't we all have the courage to do that?
Most of us know Angela Y. Davis as the most iconic Afro wearing women in "American His-story," but others know her as an activist, educator, intellectual, socialist and was a vocal activist during the Civil Rights Movement and a former Black Panther. Her research interests were in feminism, African American studies, critical theory, popular music culture and social consciousness, and philosophy of punishment and prisons. Since moving in the early 1990s from communism to reformist she has identified herself as a democratic socialist. Davis is the founder of Critical Resistance, an organization working to abolish what it calls the prison-industrial complex.
If you are an avid reader like I am, I'm sure you've read one of many Toni Morrison's excellent works of Literature. Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters. Among her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. As an editor at Random House, Morrison played an important role in bringing black literature into the mainstream. No one can tell our Her-story like we can and these women had the courage to tell the truth even when it made others uncomfortable.
Susana Baca and her sociologist/manager husband Ricardo Pereira established the Instituto Negrocontinuo (the Black Continuum Institute) in 1992. The institute aims to preserve and celebrate Peru’s significant African heritage and invaluable contributions to Peru, and has been credited with facilitating the resurgent interest in Afro-Peruvian music.Susana Baca herself is best known for her song “Maria Lando,” included on David Byrne’s 1995 compilation,The Soul of Black Peru.
Susana won a 2002 Latin Grammy Award for her album Poesia y cantos negros. Just remember that the Portuguese, Spanish, French, Americans and English attempted to destroy much of our African culture, and our language diction, music, religion and dance forms are ways to keep our heritage alive and is all that we have left once arriving to the colonies. Once we lose these cultural influences we will become extinct.
"Gracias Susana para ser una inspiración a Descendientes de Mujeres africanos en todas partes de la Diáspora."
The joy and elation that I and probably others felt when Ursula Burns was named the new CEO of Xerox was one of great pride in this woman's accomplishments through perseverance and hard work. I also loved the fact that previous CEO Anne M. Mulcahy handed the helm of the company over to her and to me that was what the true succession of power is all about, especially when you know that this individual shares much of the same visions and goals of the company. I wish Ursula Burns immeasurable success for the future of The Xerox Corporation.
The CEO of The Xerox Corporation is a native New Yorker who grew up in a lower East Side housing project and is the first women of African descent to head a Fortune 500 company. Burns ascended the corporate ladder at Xerox, beginning as a summer engineering intern in 1980 and becoming the president of the printing giant in 2002.
In 2008, Burns ranked 10th on Fortune magazine's top 50 Most Powerful Women in America. She's the second-highest placed African-American woman behind only Oprah Winfrey, who was ranked No. 8 that year. Ursula Burns, was and is a math whiz, who graduated from Polytechnic Institute in Brooklyn with an engineering degree. She received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1981 from Columbia University. Burns is married to Lloyd Bean, a retired Xerox scientist. The couple have two children.
We tend to celebrate celebrities, but not the real trailblazers who are really the most influential in the world. Even though she's on the cover of Black Enterprise Magazine this month, she should have been boldly front and center on the cover of Essence Magazine instead of their usual celebrities. Sure they wrote a small article about her, but this was a cover defining moment in "Our Herstory" and as usual they saw no significance of her accomplishments.
Many women claim that wearing their hair the way it grows from their scalps feel that they won't get promoted or hired because of their appearance and that our natural hair is too radical. Really? It's not the appearance of your hair that's not accepted in corporate America-it's your inability and unwillingness to succeed for the success of the company that's not.
Failure is not an option and neither are excuses. We're not judged by our hair or what we look like anymore, were judged by are talents. Ursula Burns is an example of many women in corporate America who wear their hair in it's natural state knowing that they are more than a skin color and hair texture. Again, it's not all about ones appearance- it's all about your talents.
"My perspective comes in part from being a New York black lady, in part from being an engineer. I know I'm smart and have opinions worth being heard." ~Ursula Burns
When I saw this beautiful photo of Gloria O. Smith, I was nearly speechless! She is Beautiful!!! I was eight years old when this photo was taken at the height of the"Black Pride Movement" of the late 1960's during the second Miss Black America Pageant.
Yes- in the earlier days we held separate pageants because women of African descent in this country were not allowed to participate in The Miss America and Miss USA pageants, so Mr. J. Morris Anderson created his own version of the pageant in 1968 as a competition for young African American women — basically the black version of the popular Miss America pageant.
The pageant is still held today even though it has been deemed racist by some and considered not needed since our inclusion as participants.
I basically added this historical tidbit to highlight this woman's beautiful halo of hair and impeccable beauty, because before-during and presently at this time "our natural beauty" is still not celebrated. I don't know where Miss Smith is today- but she was and is still an inspiration to many.
"All Hail To The Queens"
The Black Queen has ruled … and continues to rule. Her realm is universal and extends beyond geographic boundaries and political ideologies.
From the palest alabaster to the bluest ebony, Roxanna Floyd became a modern day female version of Michelangelo by using her incredible talent with the skill of a painters pallet- using our faces as her canvases to create her magic. The beauty and fashion world will miss a truly great woman. May she rest in eternal peace.
herself is best known for her song “Maria Lando,” included on David Byrne’s 1995 compilation,
