Black

Fashion And Beauty Brands Pledged To Support Black Influencers. So How Are They Doing?

By Keisha P. Crabtree 1 week ago

In the summer of 2020, the world finally took notice of the disproportionate rate at which African Americans were being murdered at the hands of law enforcement. People on social media took these injustices to task and drew attention to the plight that has long affected the Black community.

Black beauty and fashion professionals used their online platforms to share experiences of discrimination and unfair treatment in their respective industries. Out of fear of “cancel culture,” many brands scrambled to assess their history for signs of complicity and made promises to hire diversity officers and support Black voices in social media moving forward.

Now that 2020 is behind us, are those brands fulfilling their promises? We spoke with industry insiders and four Black influencers from the beauty and fashion spheres to check on how corporations are doing, and what steps are being taken to support a more

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What Is Rachel Dolezal Doing in a SXSW Documentary About Black Beauty?

By Keisha P. Crabtree 4 weeks ago

In a film about Black beauty, societal pressures in today’s culture, and stereotypes that Black women have been pigeonholed into for decades, perhaps one of the last people you’d expect to appear on your screen would be Rachel Dolezal.

But there she was, the infamous “race faker,” in the new documentary Subjects of Desire by director Jennifer Holness that premieres this week at SXSW.

Dolezal sparked national outrage and bewilderment in 2015 when it was uncovered that despite presenting herself a Black woman, she was in fact white—so her cameo in the predominantly Black film is a head-scratcher, especially when she weighs in on feeling scared of white men and feeling that she had been forced into a “white mold.”

Holness agrees it may seem like an out-of-left-field decision but explains that if her film was going to examine appropriation and beauty standards shifting to include

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Kansas City Black Fashion Week to showcase Black designers, models | FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV

By Keisha P. Crabtree 4 weeks ago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Black Fashion Week kicks off this weekend and is meant to highlight “overlooked” and unknown Black designers from the metro area and beyond.

Fashion designer and stylist Kim Young, who organized the event, says this is the first-time this is being held in the area.

“I wanted to bring something new and exciting for black designers and for people to know black designers are important as well,” said Young, aka KC Queen of Fashion.

Young said the event is created to inspire up-and-coming designers in an industry that can be hard to break, Young says especially if you’re black..

“I am a fashion designer from Kansas City, Missouri, I’ve done fashion shows all over the world,” Young said. “A lot of times people feel you have to go to New York, Los Angeles, but there are some great, talented people right here in Kansas

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How the Non-Monogamous Black Woman at the Center of ‘Ma Belle, My Beauty’ Empowered Me

By Keisha P. Crabtree 1 month ago
Photo credit: Courtesy

Photo credit: Courtesy

From ELLE

At 33, it feels like I’ve known non-monogamy was right for me forever. But as someone who grew up surrounded by monogamy—in my family, in my friendships, in my culture, in my media consumption—I know that, at some point, I must have learned this about myself. But I can’t remember my younger self even considering entering more than one long-term, intimate relationship at the same time.

While watching director-writer Marion Hill’s feature film Ma Belle, My Beauty at this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, I felt seen in my desire for a different type of intimate partnered love. Protagonist Bertie (played by Idella Johnson) is a talented Black singer in her late 20s or early 30s living in France but originally from New Orleans. The story follows Bertie as she navigates the remnants of her past polyamorous relationship with her white French now-husband Fred (played

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