Black is beautiful is a cultural movement that was started in the United States in the 1960s by African Americans. It later spread beyond the United States, most prominently in the writings of the Black Consciousness Movement of Steve Biko in South Africa. Black is beautiful got its roots from the Négritude movement of the 1930s. Negritude argued for the importance of a Pan-African racial identity among people of African descent worldwide.
The movement aims to dispel the racist notion that Black people's natural features, such as skin color, facial features, and hair, are inherently ugly. The movement also encouraged men and women to stop trying to eliminate African-identified traits by attempting to lighten or bleach their skin. John Rock was long thought to be the first person to coin the phrase "Black is beautiful"—during a speech in 1858—but historical records indicate that he never actually used the specific phrase on that day.The Journal of Negro History, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct. 1969). pp. 405–406. Bill Allen, a freelance writer for advertising agencies, claimed he coined the phrase in the 1950s.
The phrase “Black is beautiful” is meant to uplift the emotional and psychological well-being of Black people. It promotes the Black culture and identity, where the Black past is seen as an inspirational source of cultural pride. It affirms the beauty of Black people's natural features, such as their variety of skin colors, hair styles and textures, as well as physical characteristics.
This movement began in an effort to counteract the racist notion in American culture that features typical of Black people were less attractive or desirable than those of White people. Research indicates that the idea of Blackness being ugly is highly damaging to the psyche of African Americans, manifesting itself as internalized racism."Key Issues in Postcolonial Feminism: A Western Perspective" by Chris Weedon, Cardiff University. gender forum no. 1: "In her novel The Bluest Eye (1970), Toni Morrison depicts the effects of the legacy of nineteenth-century racism for poor black people in the United States. The novel tells of how the daughter of a poor black family, Pecola Breedlove, internalizes white standards of beauty to the point where she goes mad. Her fervent wish for blue eyes comes to stand for her wish to escape the poor, unloving, racist environment in which she lives." This idea made its way into Black communities themselvesBlack is Beautiful" and the Color Preferences of Afro-American Youth", Claud Anderson, Rue L. Cromwell, The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Winter 1977), pp. 76–88. . and led to practices such as paper bag parties: social events which discriminated against dark-skinned African Americans by only admitting lighter-skinned individuals.
History While the Black Is Beautiful movement started in the 1960s, the fight for equal rights and a positive perception of the African-American body started much earlier in American history. This movement took form because the media and society as a whole had a negative perception of the African-American body as being only suitable for slave status.Cassandra Jackson, Violence, Visual Culture, and the Black Male Body (2011). The Black Is Beautiful movement was based around a fight for an equal perception of the Black body to help undo all the negative ideas brought about by a history based in white supremacy.Stephanie M. H. Camp, "Black Is Beautiful: An American History". Journal of Southern History 81#3 (2015): 675–690.
Literature The Black is Beauty movement, which emerged during the 1960s and 1970s, had a profound impact on Black literature by challenging and redefining prevailing standards of beauty, identity, and representation. There were a great number of ways the movement impacted Black literature such as:
Reclaiming Black aesthetics. The Black is Beauty movement sought to challenge Eurocentric beauty standards that had marginalized and denigrated Black features and aesthetics. This movement encouraged Black writers to embrace and celebrate their African heritage, including physical features, hairstyles, and cultural expressions. Empowering Black identity: The movement emphasized the importance of embracing and affirming Black identity. Black writers responded by exploring themes of self-acceptance, self-love, and cultural pride in their works. One prominent example is Toni Morrison's novel The Bluest Eye (1970), which delves into the damaging effects of colorism and societal beauty standards on a young Black girl named Pecola. Through Pecola's story, Morrison challenges the notion of beauty as solely defined by white standards, highlighting the importance of self-acceptance. Centering Black women: The Black is Beauty movement placed a strong emphasis on the beauty and strength of Black women. It celebrated their unique features, promoted self-confidence, and addressed the specific struggles they faced such as conforming to a certain beauty standard and being harassed and humiliated for their own natural features.
Black literature had reached a turning point at this time and many of the writers of this era were releasing works that were themed with Black Beauty. For example, in Maya Angelou's iconic autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969), she explores her journey of self-discovery and acceptance of her own physical appearance, reclaiming her Blackness as beautiful. In her collection of essays titled "Sister Outsider" (1984), Audre Lorde discusses the intersections of race, gender, and identity. Her works empower Black women by highlighting their resilience, beauty, and the importance of self-expression. In "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf" by Ntozake Shange (1975), this groundbreaking choreopoem combines poetry, music, and dance to depict the lives of Black women. It celebrates their beauty, resilience, and unique experiences while addressing the challenges they face in a society that often devalues their beauty and worth.
Publications like the Negro Digest supported the Black cultural revolution and urged readers to connect with their African heritage and learn traditional African languages.
In 1969, Elizabeth Catlett published Negro Es Bello II. The title translates from Spanish into “Black is beautiful.” The black panthers and Black face on the cover represent Black pride and power.
These examples represent a fraction of the works influenced by the Black is Beautiful movement in Black literature. The movement challenged beauty standards, empowered Black identity, countered narratives of inferiority, centered Black women, cultivated Black consciousness, and expanded the literary canon to create a more diverse and inclusive representation of Black experiences.
Fashion On January 28, 1962, a fashion show staged by photojournalist Kwame Brathwaite titled, "Naturally ‘62: The Original African Coiffure and Fashion Extravaganza Designed to Restore Our Racial Pride & Standards," held in the basement of the Harlem Purple Manor would prove to be the kickstart to the Black is Beautiful movement. The main attractions of the pageant were the Grandassa Models, who were a group of local activists turned models within Harlem made up of Clara Lewis, Black Rose, Helene Nomsa Brath, Priscilla Bardonille, Mari Toussaint, Esther Davenport, Wanda Sims, Beatrice Cramston, and Jean Gumbs. The women came out clad in clothes and jewelry inspired by their African heritage, while showcasing their natural hair and skin. At the time, this was considered extremely taboo, as Black women were not ever put in the forefront of mainstream fashion. Even in Black magazines such as Ebony, models were expected to be light-skin and wear designs and brands created by white people. The theme of the fashion show, self-pride, helped to propel the show to something much bigger than what it originally was, putting on multiple shows all around America. The showcase of the African-inspired attire and jewelry was a message to the Black community to take pride in where they came from. The Grandassa Models, along with Kwame and his brother, Elombe Brathe, essentially helped to popularize the term “Black is Beautiful” following the major success of their creation and caused it to evolve from a fashion show into a mainstream movement to honor Afro-centric culture and features.
African prints Following the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans wore Kente cloth and Dashiki to represent Black politics, Black power and pride in African heritage. In the early 1970s, kente and dashiki clothing grew popular in the United States.
Black community and movement leaders, like Stokely Carmichael and Kathleen Cleaver wore African prints.
Impact and legacy The pageant was a huge success and its legacy can be seen everywhere to this day. It made African-Americans more confident in their natural and cultural looks and made it common practice to dress in Afro-inspired clothing and jewelry. The dashiki was worn by civil rights activists like Malcolm X and used to exemplify the phrase Black is Beautiful. It made it more possible for darkskin models to pave a way for themselves in the industry. It also proved to have a massive impact amongst pop culture and fashion icons. Supermodels Bethann Hardison and Iman (model) set out to continue what Kwame Brathwaite started and created the Black Girls Coalition in 1988, an advocacy group for Black models to find work. Business mogul and megastar Rihanna cited Kwame's photos of the Grandassa Models as the inspiration for her initial Fenty collection, which released in 2019, stating "When I was coming up with the concept for this release, we were just digging and digging and we came up with these images – they made me feel they were relevant to what we are doing right now..."
Hair and beauty The movement focused on natural hairstyles such as the “Afro”. Different natural hair textures, skin tones, and afrocentric physical features were appreciated and encouraged. Natural Hairstyles represented pride in African heritage and political/cultural allegiance to the coinciding Black Power movement. African Americans wore their hair with grooming tools such as the Afro pick. Some picks were molded with a raised black fist at the top.
Prior During the 1950s and early 1960s, hair straightening was seen as good grooming. Natural, kinky, curly styles were not worn very often (in their natural state). Prior to the 1960s African American beauty standards consisted of long hair and lighter skin. Different skin tones and hair textures were not celebrated as beautiful in mainstream. Previously hair straightening, skin lightening, and bleaching were marketed. That marketing and production did not stop but by the time the movement came, those practices were options instead of necessities.
Advertising Caroline R. Jones, one of the first female African American advertising figures at the company, J. Walter Thompson, was in charge of creating a hypothetical Black female cosmetics campaign. More brands began to widen the lipstick, powder, foundation, and blush shades in order to cater to darker skin tones. In 1969, it was reported that over half a dozen new cosmetics lines for Black women had emerged in the last five years.