Vintage Photo of the Week

Check out this photo of singing diva, Dinah Washington. Look at how she's worked that evening gown and owned her curves! Go on, sista!

Liya Kebede Signs Exclusive Deal With J.Crew!

Fashion Week Daily reports that Ethiopian runway diva, Liya Kebede, has signed a deal with J.Crew to be the exclusive face of the April J.Crew catalog. Ms. Kebede is the first model to. The company's J.Crew Crewcuts line will also carry pieces from Liya's children's clothing line, Lemlem, which is handmade in Ethiopia. Congrats Diva!

Vintage Photo of the Week

Since it's the weekend and many of us will be heading to the salon tomorrow to "get our hair did", I thought it would be fitting to post this ol' school ad for Vigorol hair relaxer.

Enjoy!

Beyonce Covers Vogue's April Issue

Congrats to Beyonce Knowles for landing the cover of Vogue's April 2009 issue. For the first time in Vogue's history, they have had back-to-back issues featuring Black women on the cover. My momma always says, "It comes in threes", so how about Queen Latifah, Chanel Iman or Jourdan Dunn for the May cover, Ms. Wintour?

Vintage Photo of the Week

Madam Sul-Te-Wan (1873-1959)

This is a photo of Madame Sul-Te-Wan, nee Nellie Conley, who was one of the most prominent Black actresses during the silent film era.

With a career that expanded more than seven decades, Ms. Sul-Te-Wan was the first Black actor contracted to a film, appearing in an uncredited role in D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation in 1915. She went on to appear in dozens of films, limited to portraying characters who were maids, "Mammys" or criminals, which was typical for Black actresses at that time. For fans of the Black classic, Carmen Jones, you may remember her as Hagar, the grandmother of Dorothy Dandridge's character. Ms. Sul-Te-Wan performance was so convincing that many thought that she was really Ms. Dandridge's grandmother.

Madame Sul-Te-Wan passed in 1959 at the age of 85 in Hollywood, California. Although Ms. Sul-Te-Wan never gets the recognition she deserves, she's definitely one of the pioneers who paved the way for Black actresses today.