Researching Black Super Models

I read in the Times yesterday and found that Naomi Sims, a black supermodel,(Not to be confused with Naomi Campbell!) notably recognized for breaking the chains off of the American modeling circuit recently died from cancer. I think there is something very profound about her story, as before her most of the black models were lighter-skinned. One very disturbing part of her journey as a model is that she was rejected often early in her career because she was "darker-skinned" and that her "look" would be rejected by readers. I find this interesting, because it seems the ideas of beauty for black women have been originated by the European idea of beauty. I started to research the stories of major black super models such as Naomi Campbell, who graced the cover of the Vogue Paris due to an advertiser refusing to advertise if she wasn't chosen.

Now looking at some of the newer generation of models it is interesting to see that how certain shades of black women become prominent at different points in our history. To my knowledge Naomi Sims came on during the "Black is beautiful" movement, and now looking at some of the current models such as Chanel Iman and Selita Ebanks are fairly lighter. There is a very caramel look happening now that seems to act as a happy medium between light and dark. Again, fashion and trends are changing all the time, where old ideas are recycled and reused in different ways.It seems that ideas on black beauty are too.

New Projects, New Projects, New Projects!!!!!

So this is going to be a mega busy semester with many things to see and do. First, I would like to introduce everyone to a new online site that I've launched called, CVAAD Projects (www.cvaad.com) that features contemporary visual art and artists of the African Diaspora. I would blame AIB for pushing so much research in the program, that it actually made me like it! But it's something I'm really passionate about as I really would like to see a greater presence of black artists in galleries, magazines, anthologies etc. The word really needs to get out there. So CVAAD Projects will act as a catalyst and producer for that type of movement. Also, I've finally given in to the "film bug," those of you who know me know that I've done short films in the past, but many of you may perhaps be unfamiliar. After all of the abuse I've experienced at AIB,lol, I was encouraged to have more video and a more tangible look at the issue of colorism. It's taken me awhile to get this all together but I've launched a documentary project that I'm working on, called The Skin Quilt Project. This documentary is largely about the presence of colorism within the African American community, but also the paradox of the things we do to connect to our cultural heritage. It's going to be a challenge to tie these two concepts together, but I'm really passionate about it. Obviously quilting in the African American community has a dialogue of it's own, but one of the things I was facinated about was it's relevance in African American art. So I'm using quilting as a way to enter into this discussion about colorism. They are two opposite outlooks on African American culture, quilting being the pride and joy, and colorism being the shame and guilt. But I'm interested in meeting with quilters of African descent to discuss the complexity of these two emotions: 1) the joy of quilting as a sense of cultural pride 2) the disappointment of ones cultural view on skin complexion. How can pride and insecurity exist in the same framework? This is what The Skin Quilt Project aims to explore. This will be a controversial move, but I feel it's necessary to really get the point across. I'm so excited that I've already begun to recruit interviewees for the project. Check out the website/blog for the project at: www.skinquiltproject.com.