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Keyshia Cole
For those that know Keyshia Cole is an R&B and star of the BET reality show, The Way It Is
Keyshia Cole came blazing into the music scene in 2005 when she released her album The Way It Is. The album debated in the top 10 in the billboard charts (at #6) and Keyshia Cole also nominated for a 2 grammies. Not bad for one's first album.
The success of Keyshia Cole's debute album lead to her getting her own reality show on BET. The show's title is the same as the one of her first album. Keyshia Cole's TV show was the highest rated tv show in BET history.
Keyshia Cole was able to use the success of her TV show to help increase the success of her second album Just Like You which was released in 2007. the same day as the second season of her reality show.
Keyshia Miesha Cole was born on Oct 15th in 1981 in Oakland, CA.
Keyshia Cole was adopted at age 2 by Yvonne Cole. Her biological mother couldn't raise her due to being addicated to drugs and her biological dad wasn't in the picture.
Keyshia Cole is biracial, her mom is Black and her dad is Italian-American.
Keyshia Cole's older brother is rapper Nutt-So who is the member of StreeThugs.
Keyshia Cole came blazing into the music scene in 2005 when she released her album The Way It Is. The album debated in the top 10 in the billboard charts (at #6) and Keyshia Cole also nominated for a 2 grammies. Not bad for one's first album.
The success of Keyshia Cole's debute album lead to her getting her own reality show on BET. The show's title is the same as the one of her first album. Keyshia Cole's TV show was the highest rated tv show in BET history.
Keyshia Cole was able to use the success of her TV show to help increase the success of her second album Just Like You which was released in 2007. the same day as the second season of her reality show.
Keyshia Miesha Cole was born on Oct 15th in 1981 in Oakland, CA.
Keyshia Cole was adopted at age 2 by Yvonne Cole. Her biological mother couldn't raise her due to being addicated to drugs and her biological dad wasn't in the picture.
Keyshia Cole is biracial, her mom is Black and her dad is Italian-American.
Keyshia Cole's older brother is rapper Nutt-So who is the member of StreeThugs.
NYT: Women's Fall Fashion 2008
I always look forward to the fashion supplements in the New York Times. They've done a pretty good job in the past picking out key pieces from each season's collections, usually use a more diverse array of models that typical fashion magazines, and have much better articles.
The Fall fashion report is pretty decent. I always love reading Chandler Burr's perfume pieces and there are a few other humorous articles too, like the one on the volume trend in garments and how impractical manufactured girth is for the average consumer.
There's also a spread featuring clothing that the magazine thinks offers a great look at a great price that left me scratching my head. I have rich friends and poor friends alike. None of them would think that $845 for a blouse is a deal.
There is a spread photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino featuring dark skinned beauty Adama Diallo but the high point of the issue for me is this homage to Grace Jones. Her name has been popping up a lot lately. I hope we get to see more of her in the coming months.
Ethnically Ambiguous is the New Black
According to top model booker Daniel Peddle, two "looks" will rule the runway during Fashion Week -- the tomboy look and ethnically ambiguous models.
I guess that's the industry's way of getting around casting models who actually look unmistakably Black, Asian, or Hispanic. He mentioned Dominican newcomer Arlenis Sosa (pictured) as one of his new favorites.
"...Another thing this season is trying to discern from all the girls out there the ones that are ethnically ambiguous. Girls and boys that have faces that you can’t just put in a certain place or race or geography. I think it’s very helpful to see those types of faces in our conflicted world because you can see that we’re still evolving as humans and they are the results of people willing to go beyond the socially constructed notions around race. I think that’s really important and were going to see even more of those as the population changes."
Umm, okay. While I personally am for models of all background being represented on the catwalk there is something in his statement that rubs me the wrong way. Yep, we're still evolving as human beings but guess what? In spite of race mixing there are still plenty of "mono"-racial people on the planet and only casting models who appear to be mixed race isn't my idea of modernism. He continues,
With the Internet and the way that everyone is so connected now it’s not something you can overlook anymore. I don’t think its possible to do a modern show and have it be all blondes. I understand that sometimes a designer has an aesthetic that dictates something like that and of course we’re going to work with them to achieve their goals but personally I don’t find that to be a very modern statement.
So that's what we can expect next season. The new "aspirational model" is a woman who is vaguely ethnic but not enough to offend or stand out too much. Forgive me if I'm not doing cartwheels.
Photo: Bianca/TFS
Michelle Obama Rocks the DNC
Obama, pictured here with one of her daughters, wore a beautiful turquoise dress by her favorite designer, Maria Pinto. Source: LSA
CBS News referred to Michelle's ensemble as a "fashion homerun" but what really impressed me was her passionate speech about her American Dream and her husband at last night's Democratic National Convention. Here is the full text of her speech, which can also be seen on Youtube.
As you might imagine, for Barack, running for President is nothing compared to that first game of basketball with my brother Craig.
I can't tell you how much it means to have Craig and my mom here tonight. Like Craig, I can feel my dad looking down on us, just as I've felt his presence in every grace-filled moment of my life.
At six-foot-six, I've often felt like Craig was looking down on me too...literally.
But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me - he was watching over me.
But the truth is, both when we were kids and today, he wasn't looking down on me - he was watching over me.
And he's been there for me every step of the way since that clear February day 19 months ago, when - with little more than our faith in each other and a hunger for change - we joined my husband, Barack Obama, on the improbable journey that's brought us to this moment.
But each of us also comes here tonight by way of our own improbable journey.
I come here tonight as a sister, blessed with a brother who is my mentor, my protector and my lifelong friend.
I come here as a wife who loves my husband and believes he will be an extraordinary president.
I come here as a Mom whose girls are the heart of my heart and the center of my world - they're the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, and the last thing I think about when I go to bed at night. Their future - and all our children's future - is my stake in this election.
And I come here as a daughter - raised on the South Side of Chicago by a father who was a blue collar city worker, and a mother who stayed at home with my brother and me. My mother's love has always been a sustaining force for our family, and one of my greatest joys is seeing her integrity, her compassion, and her intelligence reflected in my own daughters.
My Dad was our rock. Although he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in his early thirties, he was our provider, our champion, our hero. As he got sicker, it got harder for him to walk, it took him longer to get dressed in the morning. But if he was in pain, he never let on. He never stopped smiling and laughing - even while struggling to button his shirt, even while using two canes to get himself across the room to give my Mom a kiss. He just woke up a little earlier, and worked a little harder.
He and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig. It was the greatest gift a child can receive: never doubting for a single minute that you're loved, and cherished, and have a place in this world. And thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives - and mine - that the American Dream endures.
And you know, what struck me when I first met Barack was that even though he had this funny name, even though he'd grown up all the way across the continent in Hawaii, his family was so much like mine. He was raised by grandparents who were working class folks just like my parents, and by a single mother who struggled to pay the bills just like we did. Like my family, they scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they never had themselves. And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you're going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them, and even if you don't agree with them.
And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children - and all children in this nation - to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.
And as our friendship grew, and I learned more about Barack, he introduced me to the work he'd done when he first moved to Chicago after college. Instead of heading to Wall Street, Barack had gone to work in neighborhoods devastated when steel plants shut down, and jobs dried up. And he'd been invited back to speak to people from those neighborhoods about how to rebuild their community.
The people gathered together that day were ordinary folks doing the best they could to build a good life. They were parents living paycheck to paycheck; grandparents trying to get by on a fixed income; men frustrated that they couldn't support their families after their jobs disappeared. Those folks weren't asking for a handout or a shortcut. They were ready to work - they wanted to contribute. They believed - like you and I believe - that America should be a place where you can make it if you try.
Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about "The world as it is" and "The world as it should be." And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn't reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn't that the great American story?
It's the story of men and women gathered in churches and union halls, in town squares and high school gyms - people who stood up and marched and risked everything they had - refusing to settle, determined to mold our future into the shape of our ideals.
It is because of their will and determination that this week, we celebrate two anniversaries: the 88th anniversary of women winning the right to vote, and the 45th anniversary of that hot summer day when Dr. King lifted our sights and our hearts with his dream for our nation.
I stand here today at the crosscurrents of that history - knowing that my piece of the American Dream is a blessing hard won by those who came before me. All of them driven by the same conviction that drove my dad to get up an hour early each day to painstakingly dress himself for work. The same conviction that drives the men and women I've met all across this country:
People who work the day shift, kiss their kids goodnight, and head out for the night shift - without disappointment, without regret - that goodnight kiss a reminder of everything they're working for.
The military families who say grace each night with an empty seat at the table. The servicemen and women who love this country so much, they leave those they love most to defend it.
The young people across America serving our communities - teaching children, cleaning up neighborhoods, caring for the least among us each and every day.
People like Hillary Clinton, who put those 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling, so that our daughters - and sons - can dream a little bigger and aim a little higher.
People like Joe Biden, who's never forgotten where he came from, and never stopped fighting for folks who work long hours and face long odds and need someone on their side again.
All of us driven by a simple belief that the world as it is just won't do - that we have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be.
That is the thread that connects our hearts. That is the thread that runs through my journey and Barack's journey and so many other improbable journeys that have brought us here tonight, where the current of history meets this new tide of hope.
That is why I love this country.
And in my own life, in my own small way, I've tried to give back to this country that has given me so much. That's why I left a job at a law firm for a career in public service, working to empower young people to volunteer in their communities. Because I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.
It's a belief Barack shares - a belief at the heart of his life's work.
It's what he did all those years ago, on the streets of Chicago, setting up job training to get people back to work and afterschool programs to keep kids safe - working block by block to help people lift up their families.
It's what he did in the Illinois Senate, moving people from welfare to jobs, passing tax cuts for hard working families, and making sure women get equal pay for equal work.
It's what he's done in the United States Senate, fighting to ensure the men and women who serve this country are welcomed home not just with medals and parades, but with good jobs and benefits and health care - including mental health care.
That's why he's running - to end the war in Iraq responsibly, to build an economy that lifts every family, to make health care available for every American, and to make sure every child in this nation gets a world class education all the way from preschool to college. That's what Barack Obama will do as President of the United States of America.
He'll achieve these goals the same way he always has - by bringing us together and reminding us how much we share and how alike we really are. You see, Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background is, or what party - if any - you belong to. That's not how he sees the world. He knows that thread that connects us - our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's future - is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even when we disagree.
It was strong enough to bring hope to those neighborhoods in Chicago.
It was strong enough to bring hope to the mother he met worried about her child in Iraq; hope to the man who's unemployed, but can't afford gas to find a job; hope to the student working nights to pay for her sister's health care, sleeping just a few hours a day.
And it was strong enough to bring hope to people who came out on a cold Iowa night and became the first voices in this chorus for change that's been echoed by millions of Americans from every corner of this nation.
Millions of Americans who know that Barack understands their dreams; that Barack will fight for people like them; and that Barack will finally bring the change we need.
And in the end, after all that's happened these past 19 months, the Barack Obama I know today is the same man I fell in love with 19 years ago. He's the same man who drove me and our new baby daughter home from the hospital ten years ago this summer, inching along at a snail's pace, peering anxiously at us in the rearview mirror, feeling the whole weight of her future in his hands, determined to give her everything he'd struggled so hard for himself, determined to give her what he never had: the affirming embrace of a father's love.
And as I tuck that little girl and her little sister into bed at night, I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own. And one day, they - and your sons and daughters - will tell their own children about what we did together in this election. They'll tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start dreaming. How this time, in this great country - where a girl from the South Side of Chicago can go to college and law school, and the son of a single mother from Hawaii can go all the way to the White House - we committed ourselves to building the world as it should be.
So tonight, in honor of my father's memory and my daughters' future - out of gratitude to those whose triumphs we mark this week, and those whose everyday sacrifices have brought us to this moment - let us devote ourselves to finishing their work; let us work together to fulfill their hopes; and let us stand together to elect Barack Obama President of the United States of America.
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless America. 
Chanel Iman and Kimora Lee Simmons in Babyphat Phat S/S 2008
No matter how it is belted, I'm just not wild about this girlie dress. I do think that the bright blue looks best against on the darker skinned model.
Photo source: Miss_NYC/TFS and Wireimage
Iman @ Thierry Mugler in 1985
This is a photo of Iman from Thierry Mugler's S/S 1985 runway show in Paris. She has a close association with Mugler (who has a huge African fetish thing going on back in the day) throughout her career. In fact, her final runway show was for Mugler in 1989.
Iman justifies Mugler's thought process by claiming that it allowed her to become a fantastic showperson on the runway. "He was like an anthropologist, re-creating folk couture. He had black girls with their heads shaved as Masai one season, with extended earlobes made for them - prosthetics for authenticity."
Of this show, Iman said in her autobiography:
I've made many an entrance in my day, but never entered a runway as I did for a Mugler show. For one of his shows, I had two baby leopards in my arms. [For this show] I had a live baby monkey perched on my shoulder... and two gorgeously built black men in thongs walking behind me holding a huge umbrella...There were gasps and nervous laughter, then the roar of applause.
Photographer Eric Boman remarked that "Iman was boldly ethnic" and "made the other girls feel underprivileged not to be from Africa."
Ummm...okay, maybe you just had to be there. I'm curious if there was any criticism of this show in the press at the time but I guess I'll have to get to the library to find that answer. I love Iman and all but if I saw her strutting down the runway with a monkey I think I would have shit my pants.
Chanel Iman - "Black Break" - Vogue Korea
The pics are nice enough I guess. But really, is it necessary to put "black" on the cover and the spread? We all know that Chanel Iman is black (and part Korean too), that's why she isn't on the cover of US Vogue. Unfortunately, Chanel appears to be the only black model with new photos in the issue. The other "black beauties" spreads are just recycled from July's Vogue Italia. I think I'll pass.
Photographed by Oh Joong Seok
Pics scanned and uploaded by Chrisis511/TFS
Afrika for Hipsters
I just read about American Apparel's new line of garments and accessories made of their usual stretchy cotton fabric. They're calling the pattern "Afrika" -- I guess that the 'k' gives it a Dutch colonial flair. Stereohyped noted that AA decided not to use any black models to promote the line but personally, I'm glad that no black models were used. I think they're a sleazy company and their garments are overpriced. If they used black models here it would obviously be to add some kind of legitmacy to the line which would be insulting. Also, the leggings they're selling on the website look like ass.
NYLON Magazine - Ode to Denise Huxtable
I always get excited when I see that my mail carrier has shoved a few magazines into my mail slot. Usually, the only titles that completely snuff out that feeling are Harper's Bazaar and NYLON. I don't know what I was thinking when I subscribed to HB. I think I picked up two issues in a row at the newsstand that seemed decent and just ran with it. Since I've started getting it in the mail, I just haven't been impressed. As for NYLON...well, I've already written about how lousy that hipster rag is. That said, this month's "television" issue isn't completely terrible. I posted an image yesterday from an article about HBO's new show "True Blood" that featured actress Rutina Wesley and there are a few short blurbs in it that reference black TV icons like Claire and Denise Huxtable. I think I've mentioned before just how much I loved Denise when I was younger and I think they've done a good job here capturing her unique style. When I think of all the generic label obsessed teen drama like "Gossip Girls," it makes me appreciate Denise's carefully crafted look. Personally, I could never pull it off as oversized jackets and brooches make me look like the black guy from "Designing Women."
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