Category is: 50’s Vintage Glam

Fun fact: One of my all-time favorite Broadway musicals is Hairspray. My mother took me to see it on my 14th birthday and I was in awe the entire time. I soon fell in love with the aesthetics of the time — the big curly hair, the high-waisted skirts, the Peter-pan collar blouses... I was entranced.

Soon, and as I came to realize as I watched the full show, I understood that the 1950’s for folks who looked like me were not pleasant times, and we were fighting to be seen as full & equal human beings. While I first wanted to bask in the trends and the fashions of the times, I realized that black people weren’t even allowed in certain spaces, to be felt, seen, and heard.

So when Elijah approached me about this photo series wanting to highlight black joy & beauty throughout different decades, I was immediately aligned.

The more we can continue to implant black joy, black beauty, and black excellence into the psyche of American culture, and even into the larger global context, the more we can accept the true existence of full blackness as a natural, normal, and exquisite part of life, culture, and community.