Amazing Grace

When you think of the word androgynous, perhaps your mind harks back to Amber Rose, or even Omahyra Mota, but Grace Jones was the originator.
A musical pioneer in the New Wave/disco genre, Grace Jones was a force to be reckoned with in the 1970s, creating three albums -- Portfolio (1977), Fame (1978), and Muse (1979) --- that singularly defined gay culture in the era of bell bottom pants, huge collars and leather pants.
Grace's style? A splash of glow-in-the-dark colors with a boy haircut sharper than a razor's edge. She created the high-top fade before hip-hop had even cut its embellical cord.
Grace Mendoza was born in Jamaica, the daughter of an Apostolic preacher. She moved to New York and hooked up with avant-garde visual artist wizard Andy Warhol. The crew rolled deep, with coke-snorting celebrities, aristocrats, bohemians and all sorts of pretty hangers-on.
Grace fit in. But then she didn't.
There was no one, nor is there anyone who had style like Grace Jones. Her stylistic and musical kindreds are yet to exist.
So, where is she today? Actually, she's working on new music. Not only does she have two full albums that have yet to see the light of day, despite being recorded in the mid- and late 1990s, but she's still touring in Europe.
You may get to hear digitally remastered mixes of her most famous album's "Portfolio", "Muse", and "Fame" as the trio is set to be released this year.

Share

Chris Rock's "Good Hair" unbeweavable

Comedian Chris Rock said he was apprehensive about bringing his documentary about the black hair experience to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah this week.
"Because I think this is the blackest movie ever made," said Rock, a producer and co-writer on the film. "So I was kind of scared to come to Utah, because it's so white."
"Good Hair" is chockful of interviews with celebrities and people who have unique hair - including Al Sharpton, Raven Symone, Ice T, Eve, Maya Angelou and Nia Long.
Several hair shows are featured in the film including Atlanta's Bonner Brothers gala and the irresistable "Hair Wars" of Detroit.
All types of woman instill witty insights about their hair from those under the dryer to those undergoing perms with chemicals that damage the scalp to those that pay thousands to have hair from India (Rock makes a trip to the Far East to track down where the exotic, silky black strains comes from).
So, the question is, why, do you think, black women (and by extension all black people) are so self-conscious about their hair?

What if Afrocentricity Came Back?

It would be surprisingly simple: In mid-2009, If Barack or Michelle Obama as the First Couple chose to discard his tightly-cropped fade and she ditched the permed coif and went au naturale, would the world follow? Would the top celebrities - what if Beyonce rocked a 'fro? - Rihanna, Jay-Z, Chris Brown, Bono, Sting (yes, they can grow 'em and so can others) all took the cue and started growing nappy roots? What if it didn't stop with the hair, what if a focused re-education on Africa took place in the West? What if Afrocentricity came back? Not just the hairstyles, but the world view that all things Africa were important. Could it?