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In More Than Enough, Elaine Welteroth Discusses the Double-Edged Sword of #SucceedingWhileBlack
Behind every black woman’s success story is generally a well-developed talent for code-switching and at least one person (often, far more than one) who questions her right to succeed. As Elaine Welteroth recounts in her new memoir, More Than Enough, she experienced plenty of both while building her reputation as one of the most influential…
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Hidden No More: NASA Honors Its ‘Hidden Figures’ With a Street Renaming
Mathematicians Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson were memorably immortalized onscreen by Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe (respectively) in the award-winning 2016 film Hidden Figures. Now, NASA is giving the trio a permanent place of honor, having renamed the street of its headquarters, the 300 block of E Street in Washington,…
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'None of My Favorite Artists Are Humble': Issa Rae Refused to Play Insecure at the 2019 Women in Film Awards
“As women, we tend to downplay ourselves, to dim our light, and we’re kind of conditioned, socially, to be humble….I grew up being a huge hip-hop fan, and none of my favorite artists are humble,” said Issa Rae as she accepted the inaugural Women In Film Emerging Entrepreneur Award at the 2019 Women In Film…
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MTV Is Bringing Back Daria Character Jodie Landon—With Help From Tracee Ellis Ross
One of the unsung characters of ’90s animation is getting her own show. MTV Studios has just announced that the much-beloved “Daria universe” has birthed a new spinoff: Icon of black excellence Jodie Landon will be immortalized in Jodie, voiced and executive produced by Tracee Ellis Ross. As a statement from MTV suggests, the show…
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Still Wishing Oprah Would Run for President? Sounds Like Gayle King Does, Too!
At this point, we’ve got 50-11 Democratic candidates running for president in 2020, but if Gayle King had her way, her famous bestie might throw her hat in the ring, too. In fact, she bravely broached the subject with the great and powerful Oprah just a few weeks ago, as she tells the Hollywood Reporter.…
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Research Confirms That ‘Black Don’t Crack’—and the Secret Is in Our Bones
Something strange has been happening lately; every time I’m out with my mother, without fail, someone asks in earnest if we are sisters. As a now 40-something, this is the type of occurrence that could potentially send one into a middle-aged emotional tailspin—but if you saw my mother, you’d know it’s impossible to be offended,…
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The Cat Is Back? Forever 21 Teases a Collab With Baby Phat
When Kimora Lee Simmons Leissner recently announced the reacquisition and relaunch of Baby Phat, we were admittedly curious how the early aughts silhouettes would be reimagined for a 2019 audience. But apparently, the former model turned designer is way ahead of us, seemingly having inked a deal to stage the label’s return to retail through…
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With a New Memoir, Elaine Welteroth Reminds Us That We’re More Than Enough
She’s known as an arbiter of millennial cool-girl style, but as Elaine Welteroth told Refinery29, she started out just like the rest of us: “a hot mess.” Specifically, she was speaking about the video application she prepared in a long-ago attempt to score an internship at Essence magazine. Notably, it featured “India.Arie replaying in the…
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Big Beauty Tuesday: Glow Up in One Stop With Brown Beauty Co-op
What’s your formula for the five-minute face? C’mon, you know you’ve got one; your desert island must-haves for minimal yet polished glamour? Mine is a flawless foundation, a brow pencil, several coats of mascara and a red lip, which automatically amps up any look—and if I’m honest, in spite of cabinets full of makeup, I’m…
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The Bitter, the Sweet, and the Book: Beyoncé’s Seminal Work Enters the Literary Canon With The Lemonade Reader
In the three years since Beyoncé seamlessly merged black feminism and pop culture with the release of Lemonade, much has been said—and written—about the impact of her semi-autobiographical visual album, which traced a direct lineage from ancient African religion and folklore to Gullah culture to New Orleans’ “bounce” and the black female backbones of movements…
