Actress Viola Davis for InStyle Magazine October 2012

The beautiful Viola Davis sets the tone for glamour with hints of sexiness in her latest editorial for InStyle Magazine/Oct 2012 photographed by Dusan Reljin.

I most definitely love this quote from Viola.

Photos: Dusan Reljin/Blackberry

SOLANGE KNOWLES IS AFRO SENSATIONAL FOR TIME OUT NEW YORK

Ka-Bloom!!

What a way to start the day and see Solange in all her ferosh-ness on my Tumblr page for Time Out New York in the perfect colors and fashion inspiration for Spring. Solange had been on a roll way before she was signed to NEXT Modeling agency because she is a favorite of women in the Natural Hair community before the mainstream fashion industry noticed her, either way, she simply rocks. I wonder what are ESSENCE, EBONY and the other so called niche magazines waiting on when it comes to a cover and editorial featuring her??? Be sure to check out Solange's inspirational blog which updates her style and her journey through life and it's peoples.














Photos: Solange Knowles/Source/Jolie Ruben

I Am Legend: Actress Paula Kelly

Along with my mother, my sisters and the thousands of women who I saw in the media who looked like me and even those who didn’t, I was never without an array of positive images to choose from while growing up and Paula Kelly stood out because of her beauty and presentation. She was and still is beautiful. She could dance. She could act. And yes, she could sing too.

Today we hardly celebrate the women who are in “full bloom,” these women are in the prime of their lives and just like them, I’m glad to still be here celebrating and living my life like it’s golden. The media tends to ignore them and just like the media, many of us do the same thing. Just because a woman is no longer in her ’20s and ’30s doesn’t mean that she should be ignored and not celebrated.

To celebrate them means that they still exist. Thank you Paula Kelly for being such a positive influence with your talent, beauty and grace. Elegance Personified!

A Moment In Afro Herstory: Rolonda Watts

Rolonda Watts is a journalist, talk show host, actor, producer, writer, and voice-over talent.She is currently the announcer of the courtroom show Judge Joe Brown and as of 2006, she is currently the voice of Professor Wiseman in the PBS Kids animated program Curious George. She is a graduate of Spelman College where she was editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. In 1981, she earned a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

A Moment In Afro Herstory: Dr. Shirley A. Jackson

In 1973, Dr. Jackson became the first Black woman to graduate with a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After graduating from MIT, she became a research associate at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a visiting scientist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Geneva, Switzerland. Jackson was faculty at Rutgers University in Piscataway and New Brunswick, New Jersey from 1991 to 1995, in addition to continuing to consult with Bell Labs on semiconductor theory. Her research during this time focused on the electronic and optical properties of two-dimensional systems.

She lectured at the NATO International Advanced Study Institute in Antwerp, Belgium in 1982. Her research on high-energy theory has given her international recognition. In 1995, President Clinton appointed Jackson to serve as Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), becoming the first woman and first African American to hold that position. 

Dr. Jackson is presently the 18th President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she became the first woman to hold this prestigious position in 1999.

A Moment In Afro Herstory: American Journalist Melba Tolliver

Melba Tolliver is a distinguished journalist, writer and journalism teacher. She accidently became an anchor woman in April, 1967, when on-air personnel at the three broadcast networks went on strike. ABC News executives tapped Tolliver to substitute for Marlene Sanders, anchor of “News With The Woman’s Touch.” and the rest is history.

Historically, Miss Tolliver became the first Black woman ever to anchor a network news program. Her academic work includes writer-in residence at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn; adjunct instructor in journalism at the College of Old Westbury, Long Island, NY; and Howard R. Marsh Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tolliver holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Empire State College of the State University of New York and a nursing diploma from New York University-Bellevue, NYC.

An honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Molloy College, Long Island, NY; a political reporting award from Lincoln University; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists, the John B. Russwurm Award from the New York City Urban League, the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications, and a National Endowment of the Humanities Fellowship to the University of Michigan are among her many honors.

Tolliver has served on the boards of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in New York, the Empire State College Foundation, and the Institute for Student Achievement advisory board. A longtime resident of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, Tolliver moved to Lower Mt. Bethel Township, PA in 1994 and is currently at work on her memoir, “Accidental Anchorwoman: Chance, Choice and Change.”

Beauty Profile: Estée Lauder's Susan Akkad

"Susan Akkad, Senior Vice President at Estée Lauder Companies"

Susan Akkad is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Diversity for the Estée Lauder Companies. In her position she works in partnership with the 25+ brands of the ELC in marketing, product development, consumer insights and communications to identify and expand business opportunities to increase relevancy to Black and Brown markets globally.

Susan Akkad began her career in cosmetics at Estée Lauder International in the Public Relations department in 1986. She left the company to work with her husband in their start-up design firm in the fashion industry. After spending almost 10 years in fashion -- working in New York and Paris -- they sold their business and Susan returned to cosmetics as the Marketing Director for Fragrances at Lancôme.

In 1999, she rejoined The Estée Lauder Companies as Executive Director, Fragrance Marketing at Clinique. She eventually became Vice President, Global Treatment Marketing, a position she held for six years. Following Clinique, she became Vice President, Global Marketing at Origins. Susan then moved to M.A.C as Senior Vice President, Global Communications and Artist Relations. At M.A.C she oversaw the Communications strategies for the M.A.C brand as well as the M.A.C AIDS Fund.

Susan and her husband, jewelry designer Ahmed Akkad

She is a native Virginian and grew up in Charlottesville. She holds her undergraduate degree in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University and spent time living and studying in Cairo, Egypt. She is both personally and professionally passionate about global and cultural concepts of beauty. She lives in Manhattan with her designer husband, Ahmed Akkad.

Photos: ELC|Julie Skarratt








 

Spotted: "It Girl" Kellis

Singer Kellis looking fabulous

"A Moment In Afro Herstory: Kathleen Neal Cleaver"

"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.

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Roxanna Floyd 1960-2010: A Creative Force Behind Our Image

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.