Black Is Beautiful!

Copies of last month’s all black issue of “Italian Vogue” hit the newsstands and sold out within 72hours. Thousands of additional copies had to be printed and quickly release into circulation. The fact that a magazine could sell out in 72 hours is big news. The fact that an issue of “Italian Vogue” featuring only people of color could do this, is a huge success. This is what photographer Steven Meisel, who shot the cover story, says,

“I’ve asked my advertising clients so many times, ‘Can we use a black girl?’ They say no. Advertisers say black models don’t sell.”

Maybe now after the success of “Italian Vogue,” advertisers would have second thoughts about that. It has been a long battle fighting mass media’s interpretation on beauty within our culture. The battle continues on, but now, just maybe, with the success of the all black issue of “Italian Vogue,” the diversity of beauty within our culture can be viewed in another light and the whole world could see that we are simply “Black and Beautiful!”