Beautiful Black Ballerina from Africa pirouettes her
way to stardom.
I had
the great fortune to catch an ABC New special tonight profiling Michaela
DePrince. She is a ballerina from Africa who has been grabbing attention in many
different arenas.
For
example, Michaela was recently featured on ABC’s popular Dancing with the Stars
show. She is also one of the stars of a brand new documentary entitled “First Position,”
which charts her journey to stardom in the world of ballet via the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater in New York City.
Despite
being a very talented black ballerina, Michaela has had to suffer through many
challenges on her way to this ABC special, documentary and Dancing with the
Starts.
Her
parents were shot in war-torn Sierra Leone. She was called a “Devil Child” by
her peers when living at an orphanage in Africa. Her vitiligo (a condition that
makes dark skin appear to have white blotches) caused her to stand out from the
rest of the children.
By chance,
a family from Cherry Hill, PA adopted her along with another African girl and
brought her over to a better life in America where she decided to pursue her
career as a ballerina. Her adoptive mother, Elaine DePrince, witnessed
first-hand the prejudices that her daughter had to endure as a black ballet
star —attendees at ballet events made comments in her presence, saying that a
black girl wouldn’t be able to get on her tippy toes and command a show like
the other girls.
And of
course Michaela has proven the naysayers wrong. In addition to her television
and movie appearances, she is now a student at the Jacqueline Onassis School at
the American Ballet Theater was offered a position at the Dance Theatre of
Harlem.
She is
thankful for her opportunities, new found fame and the ability to escape a troubled
past.
Learn about and support the Pretty Brown Girl Movement.
The Pretty Brown Girl Movement is a campaign to celebrate and uplift young girls all around the world who have a brown skin tone. It started with T-shirts, tote bags, and buttons from a variety of vendors, but now the movement is getting more attention thanks to a visionary lady who was just concerned about her daughters.
Many say that the ideal beauty standard in America has traditionally been blonde hair and white or light skin. Young girls with darker skin tones are left out of that narrative and sometimes develop low self-esteem growing up. The girls they see on mainstream magazines and television ads don't usually look anything like their image in the mirror.
Sheri Crawley, co-founder of Pretty Brown Girl LLC, became concerned when she and her family moved to a mostly white suburb near Detroit. Her very young black daughters quickly started to reject black dolls and ask for hair care products to straighten their hair. In response, Crawley started to call her daughters "pretty brown girls."
She expanded on this issue in an interview with BlackAmericaWeb.com: "It's simple, but a healing statement on so many levels. For so long, as a nation, everywhere across the world, it's the opposite message our girls are receiving. There is this natural bias as a society about what's preferred, that we as adults have, so it's passed onto our kids."
February 25, 2012 was the first annual Pretty Brown Girl Day. Thousands of little girls and their parents gathered around the country in places like Chicago, Atlanta, and Detroit to support the movement.
The Pretty Brown Girl company sells a number of products ranging from t-shirts and wristbands to brownie pops and books. All of them seek to uplift and redefine the ideal of beauty, at least in the eyes of young black girls.
The Pretty Brown Girl Movement is a breath of fresh air for parents who have concerns like Crawley's. You can support the movement or learn more at the company website.
The New Miss Universe 2011 is a Classy Black Lady.
Black women = winning
When we heard the news that Miss Angola, Leila Lopes, was the winner of Miss Universe 2011 we knew this was yet another joyous moment for classy black ladies everywhere.
This beautiful African sister from Benguela, Angola dazzled the crowd and impressed judges with her eloquence.
She will now tour the world and work on furthering her social causes. It helps that she's multi-lingual and a college student currently studying business management.
After getting a healthy dosage of negative media messages about black women over the past week from commercials to movies and television shows, I must admit that it was truly beautiful to read a positive story about such a classy, elegant and deserving black lady. It turns out that Miss Angola is the very first Miss Universe from her country in Africa and only one of four African women ever voted Miss Universe.
Congratulations to Leila Lopes, Miss Angola 2011, the new Miss Universe 2011.
From time to time we profile black woman-owned businesses at Classy Black Lady. Hearing stories of black women starting their own small businesses serves as motivation for the rest of us to take those extra steps toward business ownership instead of relying on corporations for employment.
Valana Minerals is a black woman-owned business headed up by Ms. Valerie Reed. It is a line of mineral based makeup products designed especially for brown and black skin tones. Ms. Reed created Valana Minerals because she couldn't find makeup from mainstream companies that matched her skin tone and that also didn't cause allergic reactions. Ms. Reed was aided by friends and family to get her cosmetics line off of the ground. Her sales took off in 2007. She's been featured in Coco & Creme, Afrobella and World Bride Magazine.
In earlier posts on ClassyBlackLady.com I've also expressed to black women the importance of supporting businesses that continuously support your unique needs. Many long-standing beauty companies like L'Oreal, Revlon, Chanel, and Maybelline have long ignored the different shades and skin types of black women.
I can't count the times I've gone to the local pharmacy and found a nearly non-existent set of foundation options for deep dark brown skin. Also, skin care products often dry out melanin-rich African-American skin, cause blotchiness, discoloration and other issues with continued use.
Now suddenly in 2011, these mainstream cosmetic companies are finally trying to break into the lucrative "black" market. Chanel recently released a new line of products for women of color. Clinique has been advertising a very expensive product to black women to get rid of dark marks and discolorations.
I say that it's too little too late.
I encourage you to support black-owned businesses, like Valana Minerals, that have always focused mainly on serving the specific needs of black women first and foremost. These companies have put us first -- let's return the favor.
Valana Minerals was recently profiled in Winkler Magazine:
(From ValanaMinerals.com)
Hmm, not bad, huh? Congratulations to Valerie Reed and her successful black woman owned business!
Also, if you're trying to start your own small black woman-owned business please visit the Black Women in Business section of the blog for business/career advice and tips.
Musical trio of young black princesses called the SugarStrings play classical music fit for a King.
A little while ago I saw a news report on television about a group of 3 young black girls who play classical instruments and perform for groups of people at schools, churches and community programs.
They call themselves the SugarStrings. Trio members are cousins 13-year-old Adele Williams on violin, 13-year-old Mira Williams on both violin and viola, and 19-year-old Ayana Williams who plays the cello.
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| The SugarStrings Trio |
The SugarStrings have performed at a number of illustrious events, including a fundraiser for Barack Obama, the Chicago Foundation for Women conference and a family concert thrown by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
What really struck me about the story of these three young black ladies was that they play for other young black kids at churches and schools to inspire these other kids to do the same thing. They want to show other black kids that they too can learn an instrument and enjoy the benefits of a musical education.
Watch a video of one of their performances here:
You can also donate to the SugarStrings here.
A young and might I add extremely intelligent 10 year old black American girl and her father released a new song today entitled "Letter to Lil Wayne." The song is by a young lady who calls herself Watoto from the Nile.
In the video the young prodigy did what dozens of grown black rappers and entertainers haven't had the guts to - she directly addressed Lil Wayne's constant disrespect of black women in his songs.
She gently but firmly denounced the fact that he calls black women out of their name constantly in his "disturbing" songs.
While she specifically spoke to Lil Wayne, she also showed clips of him "hanging" with members of his crew, namely Nicki Minaj. This is a female rapper who recently referred to young black women as "nappy headed hoes" in her song "Did it on Em."
In the song Watoto specifically says that she knows her purpose: "my people I devote my service."
You have to simply watch the entire video to understand why I am so immensely proud of this young lady. She has made a simple yet respectful song that says what many grown up people can't even seem to say to their own kids.
I will do whatever I can to promote her song throughout the universe via social media and other outlets. Please help me do so.
Also, buy her song on CD Baby - it is only 99 cents. If we all get a copy she and her Dad can have a bank account that rivals Lil Wayne, only she will have gotten her money the right way ;)
Love Tabby
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| Snapshot of the BET Black Girls Rock Website |
Attending BET's Black Girls Rock! awards show this past weekend was an inspirational experience. The show airs on BET on November 7 at 8pm
This past weekend I had the wonderful privilege of being able to attend an amazing and extremely successful event held by BET called Black Girls Rock. I received an invite after having donated to the Black Girls Rock! organization in the past.
I initially thought this would be a small panel of black women discussing the achievements and beauty of black women.
But boy was I surprised when I found out that this was a full fledged awards show complete with performances by some of my favorite female R&B singers .
I'm talking about Keisha Cole! Monica! Jill Scott! Keri Hilson! And Fantasia!! The gorgeous and classy Nia Long was hosting. I was reeling with excitement when I learned this to be true.
The venue and attendees were a classy black girl's dream. Everyone from the security professionals to the attendants were professional and kind. I was ushered right up to the front to an available seat so I had a bird's eye view of all the celebs sitting down and performing on stage.
The awards show honored everyone from the beautiful and classy young 17-year-old Keke Palmer to the first black female Major General of the United States Marcelite Harris. Toward the end they gave the Black Girls Rock living legend award to Ruby Dee, a sweet but still feisty woman who served to inspire me time and again as I watched her presentation.
Even the band was made up of talented black girls who rock—the drummer was really doing her thing!
Also toward the end, a quartet featuring Jill Scott, Marsha Ambrosius, Kelly Price and Ledisi rocked the audience's world. They sang a rendition of Four Women by Nina Simone, which ended with a standing ovation to end all ovations.
This BET Black Girls Rock! event shook me to the core. It was so nice to see my own vision for the future of black women in America, as you can see from the establishment of this Classy Black Lady website, finally start to come to fruition.
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| Black Girls Rock airs Nov 7 on BET |
The event was dedicated to black girls and women out there struggling to make a way. It encouraged us all to keep pushing on because we are best that ever did it. Black women, we are the ish.
I learned new things at this event, including a gem from Ruby Dee: "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."
I have decided to recommit myself to this website project and blog more regularly despite my hectic schedule -- my goal is at least 2 new posts per week -- thanks to the inspiration I received from attending this Black Girls Rock! Awards show.
Listen classy black ladies, do not miss the televised broadcast of Black Girls Rock! on BET, November 7 at 8pm. Be there or be square.
Sit down with your young daughters, sisters, nieces, friends and mothers. Do not let this wonderful show for black women slip by you -- I never thought I'd be saying this but THANK YOU BET. And thank you, thank you, thank you to Beverly Bond, the founder of the organization.
Please donate to the Black Girls Rock! charity by texting "IROCK" along with the dollar amount of your donation to 27138 or just visit the Black Girls Rock website.
I told you classy black ladies in a blog post that our time was coming. Despite the media's attack on black womanhood over the past several years, still we rise.
So what are you waiting for? It's time for you to make your move rockin' black girl, whether it's to start your own business, start a new and exciting career, make more positive black woman news, improve your community, motivate little black girls, or any combination of these wonderful and very realistic goals!
