“One of the quarrels I have with European feminism is that they equate emancipation with looking ugly. “ Ayaan Hirsi Ali in Rebecca Johnson’s Vogue February article, ‘The Unbeliever.’

Happy Friday!!!

So I was tickled to receive my February issue of Vogue yesterday in the mail…

Apparently it’s the ‘Female Empowerment’ issue.
I usually just flip through the book at first to get an idea of what’s going on, then delve into reading it—cover to cover—at a later date.
I was almost shocked to see that Vogue had not one, but two black contributors for the issue!

One was Edward Enninful…

… who, in response to ‘What do you wear to work?” said, “Black on Black is always chic.” I was confused by that statement just by looking at the picture, but I kept on scanning…
Then I saw that there was a beautiful black woman (in a hot suit)…

…named Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is profiled in the back of the book. So of course I flipped to check her out.

So this woman is a very controversial figure…

She’s an outspoken critic of Islam’s treatment of women, and has basically had to flee persecution several times. She was involved in making the Anti-Islam movie Submission with Theo van Gogh (You might have heard of this) which resulted in his death.
Vogue also included an excerpt from her book, the Infidel, where she talks about rescuing family members and friends during Somalia’s Civil War.

Definitely check it out!
Go on Vogue for showcasing sisters who, controversial or not, are doing it for themselves.
Want to know more about her story? Take a look at this video:

Smootches!
PS Shout out to Andre Leon Talley who featured the PBS DVD Boxed set of Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Movement …

…in his ‘Life with Andre’ section.

At $385, it’s still very Vogue, but hey, you can’t put a price on history!
Have good weekends!