Ep. 5 - Era of One Black Model Per Runway | Supreme Models

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VGuibZ5Prrc

- Are we good? - A, B, C, marker. Quiet on set. Here we go! And... I remember my agents being extremely blunt, saying, "You're a little too dark for this season." I'm like, "Okay." They could have said I had no experience and they didn't want me, but the thing they said is, "No, we're not looking for a Black model." - This one was tough. - And that was right in front of everyone. I had to take my leave. It just felt like a door that was just not ever gonna open. You start believing that it might be something wrong with you, and that's just not the case. Let's talk about the white-out. The '80s and the early '90s were like the heyday of the Black model. A model could become a muse to anyone from Saint Laurent to Gianni Versace. She and the designer and his team were the only things. They were the ones who all got in bed together. Veronica: The '90s supermodel glamazons who were sometimes even bigger than the designers that they were walking for.

We each came down the runway, you know, exuding our personalities. You got designers who were angry because they felt that they were financing the supermodels' rise to success, and then the models would get all this press afterwards, sometimes not even mentioning the designer. So there was a backlash. When Eastern Europe opened up, when that Bloc fell down and scouts started going into Eastern Europe, that's when it starts to change. When Miuccia Prada got tired of the idea of the supermodel, the ego was reversed, so the designer had to regain that power. So what she did, Miuccia Prada, is that she basically said, "All right, I just want all the girls to look alike. I don't want any movement. I don't want any shape. Just walk straight." In the end of the day, it ended the possibility of a lot of girls working. The Black model had basically disappeared. It was like that for, like, 10 years.

That's a long time. You had models who were all the same height, all the same race, and all the same shape. You know, some people refer to it as the white-out. I refer to it as the dry cleaning rack seasons. They wanted to just see the clothes come down the runway and go back. The Prada effect, it happened to Calvin, it happened to Jil Sander. You would just have these parades of white girls. I'm not pushing personalities.

Right now, it's not about the personalities. It's about fashion. This erasure of the Black model was stunning. How is it even on the runway that a Cabine of Black models exists, and then next year there's none? In the '90s, they started having people who were casting. So the casting agent becomes, like, for lack of better words, before you see the Oz, the one at the gate, so you have to go through them. Those are the people who would decide who would be in the fashion show. My name is James Scully and I'm a former fashion show producer and casting director.

( no audible dialogue ) As a casting director, you have several different clients, from Carolina Herrera to Stella McCartney to Tom Ford. As a casting director, I knew what each designer was looking for. I can say by looking at one model that she's either great for all seven of my shows or she will be good for this one show. You kind of slot them almost as if they were playing a part. Thank you very much. In the early '90s, Milan, at the time, was still the place to go. You had Tom Ford's Gucci, you had Prada, you had Jil Sander, you had Marni, and then a lot of those people ended up leaving their houses. What it did was left Prada as the sole influencer of the fashion industry. Any girl with a personality sort of disappeared, but then all the girls of color were just gone within two years.

And so they started telling the agencies, "Oh, this season, we're not seeing Black models." As if they were a trend. I questioned a lot of things that the casting directors were saying. They didn't feel there was a market, and that's what we had to change. André Leon Talley and Naomi Campbell came to me and they said-- it was a year and a half ago. They said, "Bethann, you've gotta do something." But it had been being said to me for over a decade. We'll talk to the CFDA. The CFDA, which is the Council of Fashion Designers of America. They will make a decision and make the designers maybe put some models, hopefully in January. After I started having press conferences in 2007, 2008, 2009. So they-- things started to change, so they started to have that one girl, and that was enough.

There was only one space for one of us, and that would either be me or Chanel Iman or Jourdan Dunn. When you are working, you know that it's between you, the other girl that kinda looks like you, and then the light-skinned girl and then the dark-skinned girl. The scarcity of a job creates a space where there's no camaraderie. The competition would stem from people backstage betting each other against each other. So you're telling me that I have to compete with this woman in order for us to get the same job? I don't want to compete with my fellow sister. I do know girls who just pushed themselves away from other Black girls because they were just so competitive that they couldn't see beyond the fact that you are the enemy, I guess, because you are taking money out of their mouth. In 2008, like, that was the middle of the recession.

If there was a worst time to start being a model, 2008 was the worst time. When I first got signed, it was about 2007, 2008, even though it seems like it wasn't that long ago. I really struggled because that was the era of one Black model per runway. Um, literally one. Maybe two. I was, like, trying to survive on dollar pizza and, like, going to Europe and just-- just completely-- just begging for work. Models are very much like very glamorous migrant workers. You know, you pack up your high heels and you go to the next town.

In Fashion Week, sometimes you pay your own way. You spend all this money, a model's apartment, your flight, everything, and then to be told, "Oh, we're not using Black models." You go to this country and you've made no money. Then you move on to the next city and you hear the same thing. And I didn't make any money when I was a model the first time, so I was like, "Oh, my God." You know, at the beginning, I would have to go to 10 to 15 castings, and then be rejected. I was always in Europe. I was always in Paris. If you're a Black girl starting out in this business, you feel like nobody likes you, nobody sees you.

I had to figure it out on my own. For sure there's microaggressions that you just have to brush off. I had to, you know, fight through it, cry through it. It wasn't the right time, when I first started in 2008, and I kept, you know, going and kept trying. And I think about three years in, I realized I had to kinda just surrender. And I quit and I went to school, 'cause I-- it wasn't happening at all. And I was just devastated. You have some models that are amazing models, but if they don't have that one person to push them, they don't make it to be the star they could be.

Jeneil: I grew up in Kingston, Jamaica. Listen, there's a lot of great Jamaican models, from Lois Samuels, to Nadine Willis, to Grace Jones. I love Grace Jones. She's just so rebellious. She's strong, she never let anything try to break her, and I love that. I admire that. When I first started, everything was different. You know, you show up to some of these major couture and big brands and they send a casting director outside to tell me that, "I'm sorry, we're not using any Black girls this season, but thank you for coming in." I still hold my head up high and I exit. I wouldn't want to work for someone like that anyway. I'll go and I'll tell my agent, "Please do not send me to this casting again or this casting director again." It took a while for me to stop being angry. You know, it follows you. You know, you have to be built strong for it not to break you, I swear.

My agent, Steven Bermudez, he was the only one that was like, "You're perfect and let's change this game together." And then, bam, my first cover was "Love Magazine," where I was just like, "Here I am," you know? My agent never stopped. He never took no for an answer. And we did so much incredible things. Just work, work, work, work, work.

It just took off from there. In fashion, it takes someone else-- a photographer, an editor, a stylist-- to see the value in you, even though you know you have value. And that's where allyship comes in. We need more allies to coexist and open doors when some of us on the outside aren't able to do so ourselves. Having Black people in decision-making positions behind the camera is what really changes things. Black models of the moment, you know, Adut, Anouk, Paloma. I mean, they're all my children, so I don't want to single too many of them out. They all see me as Papa Edward. Edward Enninful, he put me on the cover of British "Vogue." Me, wearing a hijab. He's a visionary. British "Vogue" with Edward, that'll put you on people's radars.

I met Edward Enninful in Milan. He was like, "Do you know Steven Meisel?" I was like, "No, I don't." And he's like, "Well, you will soon. I'm sending him your picture right now." For things to change, Black people can't do all the work. We have photographers like Steven Meisel. Steven and I would always try to do what we can. I was working with Italian "Vogue" and Steven was a great advocate for Black models. It's appreciation of talent, you know? You just-- you don't even think about-- I mean, I don't even think about it.

I think Seven Meisel's absolutely an ally for Black models. The first time I got confirmed to work with Steven Meisel, I remember getting so excited on the phone that I walked through, like, a red light and almost got hit by a car. 2008, "Vogue Italia," I had been working with Steven Meisel. I came back from the collection and said, "Steven, there are no Black models anywhere." Steven and his agent Jimmy Moffat called in Franca-- Franca Sozzani, one of the greatest "Vogue" editors who ever lived-- to say, "You know, we have to do something about this." And I remember speaking to Franca, saying, "What can we do? Because the Black model is disappearing." And then literally she gave over her whole issue, and Steven asked me to collaborate with him on some covers and some stories, and we wanted to create a history of Black models.

So when you look in that issue, it goes from grand dames like Iman and Pat Cleveland to Naomi, who was on her own, essentially, to new models like Liya Kebede, Jourdan Dunn. There was a spectrum of Black beauty. So it was a very proud moment for me. ♪ Rising up to fight for change ♪ ♪ A system broken, deranged ♪ ♪ You hear 'em saying those names ♪ For Italian "Vogue" to do that, that was-- that was big. Law Roach: The Italian "Vogue" all-Black issue is the highest-selling issue that they've ever-- that they ever created. It was a hugely important issue. However, it didn't really open up opportunities for the Black model at that time. I just remember Steven saying, like, "I can't believe Sessilee has not gotten enough work at this point in her career. She's absolutely exquisite." Milan was a little hard, and it was a bit of a struggle to book jobs. I'm like, "I'm literally on the cover of the biggest magazine out of this country." It was just, "No, you're just a little too dark." Some things you just cannot change.

When I got signed with Major, I was probably 18, 19. They were the ones who changed my life, 'cause they believed in me. ♪ Brush the dirt off of my feet ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh ♪ That also gave me a chance to work with Meisel again, which, also, when you work with Meisel, you are a Meisel girl, which means that everybody wants you. - ♪ Come on ♪ - ♪ Come and get it ♪ - ♪ Are you ♪ - ♪ Ready for it? ♪ - ♪ Let's go ♪ - ♪ Come and get it ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh ♪ So I was able to do Victoria's Secret, shot with H&M, shot music videos with Kanye West. And being an Afro-Latina, I remember my "Latina" magazine cover.

It was kinda funny 'cause it was like, "Oh, she's on the Black issue. But, yeah, now she's on "Latina"? Well, which one is she gonna be next week?" It's like, I can be multiple things. Hello. And it's beautiful. If you're working, it felt good, I guess, in a way. 'Cause you're like, "I'm the one that they chose." I was being seen, and at the same time, I was like, "Something is kind of off." Like, what else can I do? There's only so much I can personally do.

I am not the decision-maker. If a runway show features only white models, or just one Black model out of dozens, is it racism? More Black models were used in the '70s and '80s than is being used now. I'm not sitting here saying boycott designers. What I'm trying to do is educate designers. I don't like it and I say it. I say, "Where's the others?" Naomi has never been one to bite her tongue. She's someone who basically will call you out, call it out, and she can only come and tell me, "You're not here to see this, but it's going..." And this is-- we're talking about 2013. We're not talking about 19-something. At some point, you start to say, "Okay, okay, okay." I was getting ready to go in there with a machete. When I was asking to the agencies to get more models of different ethnicities, they will answer to you, "There is none." These designers don't even know what's going on on their behalf - through the casting agent. - I was shocked.

I had to talk to others who were in the industry. They would tell me things that I could use as fuel to do more. So they would tell me what it looked like over there. And I was the one who wrote the letters to the fashion councils, telling them that hiring only one model of color per season, even if they don't do it on purpose, the result is racism. Naomi Campbell joined us, so it was the three of us. We went on the news. CNN, ABC, BBC, you name it. And we highlighted what was at issue. Reporter: Fashion's biggest names are listed on what the Fashion Diversity Coalition calls a lack of Black models during the fall 2013 collections. What I actually did was had someone in my office sit and go through every single show.

And so we could actually see who did what and who didn't. And they would say, "Zero Blacks, one Asian." They would just-- she counted them out. And that's how we came to know what we did is right. Woman: And the numbers don't lie. - No. - The pictures don't lie. - You can see them right there. - That's what I said. If somebody said, "Well, how dare you say--" I said, "Roll the tape. Just look at the shows.

When it was being questioned, "Is the industry of fashion racist?", that gave the model agencies a chance to start to find other girls, and it changed things. New York shows have just finished. Huge difference. Big difference. So many more models of color. Six black models in Calvin Klein. There were none last year. It was so weird at the time to think, like, "Oh, my God, Bethann! There were two Black girls in Prada." And she's like, "Call me when there's five," and hung up on me like that. She's like, "We're not done." So, Prada, for the people who started the problem, they actually started to become very diverse. And people started to really follow the example. I had my first Italian "Vogue" cover with Steven Meisel and the Prada campaign right after. So, every door opened. Like, the connection just, you know, it happened. I was like, "Oh, my God. Now I can call it a career." "I am a model," you know? Just saying this, "I'm a model. I'm a full-time model. That's my job." I have to give a lot of credit to Miuccia Prada, too, because she really-- for what she did before-- changed things.

Using five girls, putting them in the show, and then doing it again, and then continuing it in advertising. Do you know that that influences the other designers? That the other designers are now using girls of color in their advertising? That has never been done. Just to see the amount of Black models on the runway, on covers, and just so many models of color working right now, that's amazing, because in 2008, that was not happening. Fast forward to 2015, 2016, this agent from Paris is like, "I want you to come to Paris. I know I can get you in the door to a big show." There's backdoors into these opportunities, 'cause sometimes you need new avenues when, you know, the gatekeepers are saying no. So she sent me to YSL. "They need a body there who is helping them do fit modeling." Anthony Vaccarello really connected with me and he was just like, "I want you to be in my show." And I went down the runway and closed the YSL show with blonde hair. Closing the YSL show was definitely pivotal. Also, around that same time, I went to casting for Roland Mouret. His stylist, Sophia, she's the stylist for Victoria's Secret as well. Soon after that, I ended up getting Victoria's Secret.

Seeing the transition from my experience in 2008 where there was only one model per runway, to now, and to see the level of opportunity, it's almost to the point where it's like, oh, wow. I didn't know that racism played a part in my inability to get into a door. Most of these girls who are successful today owe it to Bethann and the Coalition, because if it wasn't for them, we would've been overlooked. When you look at fashion shows in 2003 or '05, you don't have so many Black models on the runway. Right now, you do have more. No, we're not going back to the old days of just one token model. No. - Hello. - Hello. I definitely dreamed of being a model. I didn't necessarily think that it was a possibility.

But I found an article about how a hashtag could make you a supermodel. So I hashtagged a picture. It was so spur of the moment. I really didn't think anything was gonna come from it. And then I think it was a month after that, I ended up moving to New York City. Social media really has been the game-changer when it comes to the fashion industry and modeling in particular. Trust me, the world has changed. You have an Instagram that you can make your point across even if you are silenced by the industry. Sometimes it is racism, and now we're using our voices to talk about it. You know, you open your browser or you open TikTok or you open Instagram and you see so many different perspectives.

It's extremely powerful. Today, being a Black model is not just being a Black model, beautiful-- but it's as well bringing a real conversation to the table. I wrote an open letter to the fashion industry called "A Time for Change." I DM'd every Black magazine editor that I could find. "Harper's Bazaar" got back to me, and the piece was published probably, like, a week later. That article went so viral, a couple months later, I was onstage giving a TED Talk called "Black Girl Magic in the Fashion Industry." At one point, you reach a moment of your life where you know that you have a platform that can help. We got our power back. And I'm trying to use my platform to have a positive impact. I think in the industry, we need to support each other, lift each other up, to just feel safe. I mean, Cindy Bruna is one of these incredible models that in a couple of years will not maybe only be a model, but she will be-- she could be a politician.

She already uses her voice to express so many topics. Her strength is to use her beauty as revolution. Over the shoulder? ( music playing ) - Joan Smalls, definitely an Instamodel... - Both: Major. ...who used her fame as a model as a way to get more followers and as a way to get more work. Joan, she embraced me right out the gate. Joan Smalls, that's my girl.

I mean, I started my career with Joan, and I think my first MET Gala was with Joan Smalls. We know each other super well. I love her. The fact that I was able to just think outside the box of what modeling is is what made me. My agent Kyle Hagler was the one person who I met who understood my struggle, he understood the pain. She just said, "I wanna try something else. I want to see if I could actually work with high fashion clientele." She was at her breaking point, and she's like, "Listen.

I'll shave my head off. I'll do whatever it takes to do this." And I was like, "Don't shave your head. Just be yourself." And she's like, "Nobody ever told me that." She happened to have blonde highlights in her hair. And I was like, "Go back to your natural brown and then let's go." And literally within a month, her life transformed. Joan: First season that I go to Paris, I got the exclusive with Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, and that changed how people saw me. Kyle: She's now working for Givenchy and Gucci. And then, by year's end, she was an Estée Lauder spokesperson. Joan: And I was the first Afro-Latina to be part of Estée Lauder. You're in it, you're in a vortex, and you're moving so fast, and you're doing so many things at the same time, that you don't realize what's happening until someone else says, "Well, she's the first Latina to do this." "She's the first Black girl to do it." I was the first Black model to have shot the Chanel campaign, and I don't-- don't quote me.

I don't know if it was 15 or 18 years. Joan: Like, there's no way 18 years or 15 years can pass and I am the first to do this. I'm like, how are we not talking about that? The fact that I'm outspoken about things that nobody wanted to talk about cemented who I was in this industry. Olivier: The moment that we talk about lack of diversity in fashion, we re-question the entire industry, entire companies, entire teams, entire campaigns, entire magazines. When you have social media and you have the ability of someone to directly direct message talent, it started to change the power structure. People had Instagram accounts dedicated to modeling. Instagram was how I got discovered. Edward: Models can get booked through social media. You don't need to be with an agency.

It's no longer just a god sitting somewhere dictating what should happen in fashion anymore. Black women aren't a monolith. I think that's super important and can no longer be treated as a trend. The whole modeling industry has now gone through a whole revamp, and a whole reckoning, if you want to say. This means a lot of brands have to step up. They're kind of afraid of getting called out. Especially now during cancel culture. You have to come correct or we're gonna see you and we're gonna say and we're gonna make sure that you know.

Marcellas: Social media gave the model a voice to talk about what's good about fashion as well as what's bad about fashion, and it set the stage for the biggest revolution in the history of Black models. This is a first. Ladies on all the cameras? I'm just like, "Yes!" Woman: Woman grip, woman media manager, woman camera. - It's amazing. - Woman director of photography. Telling the woman's story. It's nice..

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CHANA BATETA EAST AFRICAN STYLE!! CHICKPEAS AND POTATO IN COCONUT MILK | MUMS TANZANIA STYLE RECIPE

https://www.youtube.com/embed/FBp9h0vhuoc

welcome to the Don Imran family kitchen in today's video we are going to show you how to make chana bateta chana which stands for chickpeas bateta which stands for potatoes now this is another tanzanian dish it's very nice very healthy very satiating so you're going to sprinkle some of this chevda or crisps on top it gives it that little bit of crunchiness so it's creamy it's tangy it's got a slight sweetness from that coconut so let's move on to the recipe itself so so so do okay so you saw how to make this channel veda very simple to make very delicious it's also very fulfilling as well when you have this so do try this out and let us know if you will try this out on the comment section also hit the like button subscribe if you haven't already uh because we do appreciate support those who have subscribed to us really really appreciate it and also hit that notification bell icon so that you are informed of our daily releases so that each new brand new video that comes out you are informed of it and do share this content to as many people as possible with that said catch you in the next one

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Disco challenge (develop your right-hand finger drumming technique)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LAm6ukK3RMI

And that appears something like this: (drum beat) So, you go back and also forth. You ' re missing from.( drum beat) Like that. three-e-and-a, four-e-and-a, one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a,. three-e-and-a, four-e-and-a, one. And also then, we can utilize the. left hand once again to play - (arrest) a little snare ghost note. at the end of the pattern. (drum beat) One-e-and-a, two-e-and-a,. three-e-and-a, four-e-and-a, one-e-and-a, two-e-and-a,. three-e-and-a, four-e-and-a, one. Bear in mind to start practicing. the individual parts, exercise them gradually, after that speed them up, and then incorporate them entirely into the entire nightclub groove. As well as it may take a. while to get utilized to this sideways motion with your. right hand, since if you'' ve been playing beats that. I provided in the past, this is usually something. that doesn'' t take place a whole lot, where you keep going from the. left to the right as well as back.I think it'' s an excellent workout, as well as it ' s a really fun beat to play also. So best of luck practicing. If you like this video clip,. provide it a thumbs-up, maybe sign up for the network, and I actually intend to see. you once more next week. Bye. As well as that seems something like this: (drum beat) So, you go back as well as forth. You ' re missing from.( drum beat) Like that. One-e-and-a, two-e-and-a,. If you like this video,.

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African Elephant Roar: Elephant Sanctuaries South Africa

my name is Gilford khumba meaning moment she's 29 years old she worked two thousand eight hundred kilogram she is a good girl there I'm sure it now we got the truck but so I'll be a guide you are here for Elephants so what we do here the elephant's we do interactive programs you get to interact with elephants okay but they are not tame even though we say you're gonna interact with them they're not tame to Hagai can kiss kiss anytime you feel like going to an elephant to yourself into yourself you're going to touch you're going to feed we're going to get you walk trunk in the hand with them and then we're also going to meet the other elephants no browsing free feeding because they don't stay in the enclosures all the time we do take them out they need stimulation they need exercise so we will get to meet one of the elephants that's still browsing at the moment and when it comes to the interaction we will be with the handlers so they will guide us if it's safe to stand close to the elephants they will show us how how to do it okay sound good great ready I'm ready someone close to an elephant before now ours with the big cats big cats yeah tigers leopards lions and crocodiles oh very close and was one of them cat well so elephants make pancakes yes and pizzas yeah they don't scratch you I could make pancakes behind you this function is to do with the amenities or functions or weddings why are we doing wet in here yeah my god I sound like a nice place to get married that's the real trees yeah you build the building with the trees please see that look at that they didn't destroyed the twist they just put the building with hundreds heretofore you never see something like that in the world cities you know that is so everything okay that is beautiful Wow warm up yeah I'm sorry six years older every morning when the elephants are out we take all the weight class check the down and then the grass that we can still reuse we keep it outside so we can wash this table and then later and is dry we set up the baby food food for the whole night remember say they feed between 12 and 18 hours the Meserve food for the whole not so good food for them there's the water at the wall there that stuff that we feels automatically on the other wall so it's like a flashing current when they drink it refills and as you can see they've been separated it's to do with competition for food that's why you separate and then also to do with treatment you are allowed on the down you can tell when they're stressed when they need to do em them you know who's feeling when was not feeling well that gets you to know it's like soft party sites pretty stoned the legs you see the size so you brush the elephant every day get a fighter you're working fast stop all right timber so you say this one you wait two times three times that is okay okay okay I just got this pile up dude good

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MILES FT ENLINO AFRICAN LADY

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"Afro-Victorian": Bringing Historical Black Women's Dress into the 21st Century w Cheyney McKnight

https://www.youtube.com/embed/N3rmKrQPAE4

(cheerful music) - (Cheyney) When I started living history, everyone told me "black women wore what white women were wearing, but the poor version of it." And from the jump, I was like "That doesn't make sense at all." (exploratory piano music) My name is Cheyney McKnight. I run Not Your Momma's History channel and I specialize in telling the stories of black folks in North America in the 18th and 19th century. So we started a new series, These Roots, where we do a day in the life of a black person, whether they're free, enslaved, wealthy, or working class.

And so we follow them through an entire day and we've done three episodes so far and we're going to continue to do it. And then I also am a historical interpreter. So, I travel around teaching people about the stories of my people. - Cheyney's series is going to be linked all over this video because you need to check it out. But Cheyney is going to talk a little bit about, sort of give you a little bit of a taste of some of the stories of these women. - Yes. Absolutely. - And people. - So when I got started in living history, I really wanted to learn about what black women were wearing. A little bit about my background, growing up, I had family members in New York and in South Carolina and so I had a very unique experience where I knew elderly people from the north and the south.

And so I got a range of what black women were wearing in the 1940s and 30s. Going further back, I really wanted to learn the style of black women because I could distinctly see the difference in style between black women and other women in the 1990s and the 2000s. This was the same in the 19th and 18th century. When I started living history, everyone told me "black women wore what white women were wearing, but the poor version of it." And from the jump I was like, "that doesn't make sense at all." I had access to paintings and drawings and pictures, phot- photography of the style of black women and we had, have a huge amount of WPA narratives where black women were talking about clothing and the different styles they went through.

And then we also have firsthand accounts of people observing black people, which they really talk in depth about the style of black folks. What it comes down to is that black women always had this very peculiar style that is distinctly West African in origin. No matter how far removed they were for the continent, whether it was through enslavement, through time, through space, they held onto these very distinctly West African characteristics in clothing and also in culture. And that this is what I really wanted to educate people on and make them aware on, of. I think people sometimes dismiss African-American culture as a distinct culture because it's kinda become mainstream culture in many ways with hip hop. A lot of that kind of gets lost in the wash, but I want to make sure people know the origins of black culture and style that is distinctly West African. - I mean, this is such a good segue - into what you're wearing, (laughs) but I want to talk also a little bit more about specifics. What is the style? Like where does it come from? What are the developments? - I don't know. - No, that's a great- - There's just like way too much.

- No, no, no, that's a great question. So, I get my sources from a lot of different places. I get it from the WPA narratives, from accounts of enslavers, European travelers. But when looking at the WPA narratives, they talk about the necessity for things like mending and patchwork, which everyone was doing. But I find that the style, aesthetic choices of black folks were slightly different. There was one account from a missionary during the Civil War. They were teaching black children how to read and write. There were donations from New York City of dresses, beautiful plaid dresses, for the little girls and the, the children brought them home to their mothers. And what happened was the mothers took contrasting colors and sewed it to the bottom.

And so when the girls came back, the mothers were like, we fixed the dress you gave to our children. (Cheyney laughs) Like they could not tell them that this was a better dress because they added that fabric to the bottom. Obviously, the woman was horrified, but I like to think that they did fix those dresses. - You're welcome. (laughs) And so those are, you see, little anecdotes like that, where you would see white women who, whichever standing they are in society, would never have made that choice. Just like I think some French women who find themselves in America would makes distinctly different choices about their wardrobe, English women who had just recently migrated or Irish women are also, were also making distinctive choices that are different.

So looking at someone, you could kind of tell this person is from a different place or culture. And I find those little things unique when you find them in stories. Also, last one, one of my favorite stories. An enslaver's wife was observing enslaved persons going to church or what they call Sunday meeting. She said that the head wraps of the women were just so big and brightly colored that they could put one's eye out from a mile away. - Head wraps were a big deal. - Yes, absolutely. So you can find head wraps in the north and the south on women from enslaved women, free black women, and depending on where you were, it can inform if the person is enslaved or free or just simply black. It was also a racial identifier. Some women, for example, Juliette Toussaint. There's a beautiful painting from the early 19th century. She and her husband lived and worked in New York City and they were quite wealthy. They were, I would call them upper middle class or upper, upper middling. And she is wearing this beautiful head wrap, flat head wrap.

And it's distinctly different from the turbans that were worn in the early 19th century. But unfortunately, something that I am trying to break down is that it wasn't just black women and Creole women in Louisiana who were wearing head wraps or just in the south. Black women in the north and south were wearing head wraps, we have the evidence on up into the 19th century. I have a beautiful picture from a historical society in New York, that pictures a black woman who works for a household as a maid of all work. And she is wearing this huge, fabulous, like mid-century, mid-19th century printed cotton. And it is huge, it looks like a Gele. And she's just like in the painting with her employers just, not the painting, the picture, with her employers, just "hey :)".

It is so cool. - So. - Fantastic. - It's like, so we've done a collab, Cheyney and I, which you can find on her channel, about chatelaines and we were just talking about how a chatelaine makes noise and it announces your presence to the room. I feel like it has some of the similar, like, "I am here". - "Acknowledge me". - Absolutely. - And I spent quite a long time kind of hiding myself that now I want to announce to the world that this is who I am. This is where I'm from and I embrace my culture and my people. - Everything to say "I'm here!" (upbeat music) Head wraps and taking up space and- - You do literally bring your work into the way that you dress. As you call it? - Yeah, so Afro-Victorian was a term coined by the costume designer of Jingle Jangle. And when I first heard it, I was just like ooh. - You've been doing that for years. - Exactly! This is my style. And then also I incorporate a lot of Afro-Futurism, which I think some of this - would incorporate. - Which you can go check out - on Cheyney's channel.

- I think that I, more so, educate people about things that we lost, the knowledge that we lost, which you encounter a lot, for people. Because we didn't do some things since the 1920s or 30s, there's a whole generation of knowledge that we lost. And for, specifically for black women. There's a whole period of time where we lost how to, for example, stretch our natural hair. So when I say stretching, my hair is in a natural state, but if I want to do a updo, like you see those beautiful pictures that were taken of black women, they weren't using hot combs. They were able to pin their hair down into a European hairstyle with their hair like this.

And so there were some things they did every day to stretch their hair. And so kind of making those connections and educating people about that. And I'll be doing a lot more videos on black hairstyling in the 19th century. - So definitely, I mean we've said this a hundred times, but please go check out Cheyney's channel. - Me too. Thank you so much Bernadette. It's been so awesome to finally just hang out with you. I feel like every time we see each other, we're racing by one another. I'm like hi Bernadette, bye! (laughs) - Hello. Goodbye. - Right, right, right, right. - And it's always an honor to listen to you talk and to watch your videos, of course, I cannot stress enough how much, not only is your channel informative but it's so well-produced, like it's exactly what the world needs. All the links down below, go and follow Cheyney.

I mean, I'm sure all of you already do because, you know. Yeah, I have no idea how to end this video. - Yeah. - This is like the worst part. - I know, it's always the worst part where you're like oh, I'll let you go. - So we're going to end this now. Go forth and be your most wonderful self and watch some videos. - Bye! - Bye! (laughs) - Okay, huzzah!.

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High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America | Official Trailer | Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/embed/7wsEdxt1Ico

-We call our food "soul food." -Cheers. This type of food, you can feel when you eat it. That aroma! The truth is, a lot of American food has its roots in African American food, traditions, and ingenuity. And, you see, it already smells like mac and cheese. This standard, yummy dish has a really old history. I'm Stephen Satterfield, and I'm on a journey to uncover the stories of African American food and meet the new generation preserving our history.

We charred and dressed this beautiful cabbage with pear preserves. Okra is African because it made the voyage with us. It did. We brought it to the New World. Despite the fact that we were in hell, we were suffering, somehow, in all of that nonsense, we created a cuisine. Is this is something that would've been served to Jefferson and Washington by their enslaved chefs? Absolutely. Hercules and Hemings were foundational to the foods that we love today. When you understand your history and understand where you come from, that understanding gives you purpose. Trying to keep the culture going is a blessing. Your turnip greens have transported me back in time. We have a deep tradition that you're honoring in a place like this. But our legacy isn't found in statues or history books.

It lives on in the people who guard the gates of our culture. Cheers. Wow! This is a showstopper. Our story is America. .

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https://howtoplaythedjembedrums.com/high-on-the-hog-how-african-american-cuisine-transformed-america-official-trailer-netflix/