Author Description

The concept of 'black beauty' - or 'black is beautiful' to use a more familiar term - is concerned with the 'aesthetics of blackness'. It encompasses notions of black sexuality and of black people as sex symbols. It is distinct from references to 'black style', an area concerned primarily with clothes, social codes and mannerisms. The consideration of black beauty is examined here with reference to the most significant black icons of film, television, music, sport, politics and fashion through words and pictures. Contrast Sidney Poitier, Malcolm X, Josephine Baker, Jimi Hendrix, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge, Denzel Washington, Diana Ross, Pam Grier, Tina Turner, Billie Holiday, Noami Campbell, Iman, Tyson Beckford, Vanessa Williams, James Brown, Janet Jackson, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Whitney Houston, Grace Jones, Lauryn Hill, and many more, as the story swings from one decade of the twentieth century to the next. Their aesthetic contribution in each example, is reviewed. Black Beauty should not simply be regarded as a 'black story'. It is also a pop-culture compilation featuring some of the greatest names of all time. The stars profiled here are heroes to people of all races