representation matters
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Black Agents Make NFL History by Representing the Majority of First Round Draft Picks
It’s wild to think that in 2020 there are still so many industry milestones that black people have yet to cross. For this reason, it’s always encouraging to see racial barriers being broken. So black sports fans should be elated to learn that for the first time in NFL history, more than half of the first-round…
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Shine Bright Like a Diamond: GLAAD Launches Neon to Bring More Visibility to the Black LGBTQ Community
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Growing up, I didn’t see myself represented in the media. Black queer masculine-presenting women were in short supply on my screen as a kid and continue to be a rarity, even with creators like Lena Waithe and Dee Rees gaining ground. In fact, I didn’t start seeing real…
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At the 2020 State of the Union Address, Democratic Congresswomen Once Again Made a Statement With Style
As Trump continued his whitewashing of America on Tuesday night’s State of the Union, many of the Democratic women of the House of Representatives (including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi) once again donned white in protest. While many of our most famous congressional faces—including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Frederica Wilson (Fla.),…
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Double Vision: Lupita and Zendaya Are Stunning in a Joint Lancôme Ad
Martin Luther King Day is still a month away, but here at The Glow Up, we dream of a world in which little dark-skinned girls and little light-skinned girls can see themselves represented equally—and beautifully—in mainstream advertising. That’s why we have to give kudos to legacy cosmetics brand Lancôme, which paired its two black brand…
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If You Want to Protect Black Art, Protect Black Critique
I will never forget the day my skin thickened. I was a baby-faced undergrad student sitting in a circle of my literary peers, awaiting my academic doom, also known as the “writing workshop.” My heart raced with an urgent fury and my stomach twisted into a knot only an Eagle Scout could untie. There I…
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Google Us, Baby: What Loni Love Doesn't Know About Black Plus Models Is Hurtful to the Women Who've Been Doing the Work
“There are no real plus size icons for me,” The Real co-host and author Loni Love told Hello Beautiful earlier this month—ironically, while hawking her first fashion collaboration with full-figured fashion stalwart Ashley Stewart. While The Glow Up and a whole gang of Aretha, Oprah, Queen Latifah, Jill Scott, and Lizzo fans would beg to…
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The Cast and Crew of Queen & Slim on Black Love Being 'An Act of Resistance, Protest and Resilience'
Beyond the political allegory of two black people going on the run after killing a cop, Queen & Slim is a love story. Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) have bounties on their heads for the crime they’ve committed and throughout all of their trials and tribulations, they find a special sense of connection…
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'I Won’t Do an All-Black Show': Naomi Campbell Talks Representation, Reputation, Racism and Why Meghan Markle Is Right to Defend Herself
“We just want balance, end of story,” says Naomi Campbell in a recent interview with the Guardian. Long one of the few black “supers” (as in supermodels), in recent years, Campbell, in partnership with fellow fashion legends Iman and Bethann Hardison, has become an advocate for diversity in the fashion industry. This followed decades of…
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The Category Is ‘Campaign Star’: Pose Star Mj Rodriguez Scores Her First Beauty Campaign With Olay Body
“When I got Rent off-Broadway in 2011, I just got to be myself and actually go on my journey through my art,” said Mj Rodriguez as she sat on a panel at Glamour’s Women of the Year Summit on Sunday. “I could live out my truest dreams, which is completely being me in front of…