“It is our duty to say thank you and pay tribute to them, whether they are here or not.”

Zendaya in How Black Models Broke Through the Glass Ceiling

I like to say “I used to be a dancer” often forgetting that I used to be a model too.

I used to love pretty clothes, hair, heels and makeup.

I used to love imagining myself like Lena Horne and Diana Ross. Then I learned their stories, along with so many people whose lives inspired me.

Now, I love seeing, hearing, and reading their his/tories and her/stories…like crumbs left for us that lead us back home to ourselves.

The pictures and the films show us who we are and have been.

I give thanks for the photos that inspire all the essays (historical, editorial and journalistic). They still teach us (like all models tend to do) how to write as scribes and documentarians for the next generation.

The World in 1963 by The Atlantic is one of my favorite models on which to gaze. I revisit her often when I think about my parents and grandparents…the generations before X that endured pains so we could have joys.

I am grateful for these models as I seek to embrace the one that I am.

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