MISS MAGNIFICENT!
This project is a tribute to black beauty and its minimalization throughout history. I wanted to highlight the irony of excluding POC throughout history, and how that has led us to shine brighter.
For research, I looked into DRUM Magazine, one of the first magazines out of South Africa to do Black journalism. They challenged tradition, such as the pageant world, and explored masculinity within the field.
I also looked into the pageant world in America during the 60s where white women were the epitome of beauty. The Miss America Contest excluded African American women from competing, and activists protested. The NAACP organized a Miss Black America pageant which was held on the same day, in the same city, at the same time as Miss America.