“When I see comments judging black women’s appearance and bodies, a lot of them come from other black women and black men. It makes me so uncomfortable reading the comments, because if I wasn’t aware that the people making the comments were black, I’d assume it were a bunch of stereotyping white and non-black people who harbor anti-blackness. All I have to say is why? Whites already discriminate towards black women in these departments enough. Black people, you can’t tell black women to carry the community on our backs but them promote the racist troupe that we’re also inferior. It doesn’t work like that.
Black women have been fighting for so long in a society that discriminates against our physical appearance. Our own people contributing to the oppression doesn’t make this battle any easier.” Fed Up Black Woman, Tumblr
The First Black Supermodel, Whom History Forgot • Donyale Luna became the first black supermodel nearly 50 years ago. At the height of her career, the New York Times called Luna “a stunning Negro model whose face had the hauteur and feline grace of Nefertiti.” Read more at nymag.comFrom Kingpinnn, TumblrDr. Eliza Ann Grier. Born a slave she became the first African-American to practice medicine in Georgia. From Youtube.comMattiwilda Dobbs (b. 1925) is an American opera singer, one of the first African Americans to achieve international acclaim in the art form. After winning an international competition in Geneva, Switzerland, the Spelman graduate launched a career that took her across Europe. In 1953, she became the first African American women to sing at the famed La Scala opera house in Milan, Italy. Read more at GeorgiaEncyclopedia.orgWilla Beatrice Brown, the first black woman to receive a commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol. She trained Air Force pilots during in the 1940s. From Buzzfeed.comMatice Wright, the Navy’s first African-American female naval flight officer. From Buzzfeed.comA vintage photo of Janet Harmon Waterford Bragg ( 1907-1993) Although she was a registered nurse, she always dreamed of flying.She became one of first African-American women to hold a Commercial Pilot’s license in 1942. She said of her very colorful past: ” I’m not afraid of tomorrowbecause I have seen yesterday and today is beautiful.”(1991) photo via Pinterest From Black History Day, Tumblr
Born: Lena Mary Calhoun Horne on June 20, 1917 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York City. New York
Parents: Edwin Fletcher “Teddy” Horne Jr. (numbers kingpin in gambling trade) and Edna Louise Scottron (actress)
Siblings: ?
Grandparents: Cora Calhoun and Edwin Horn
Other Relatives: Maternal Great-Grandfather is Samuel R. Scottron, a prominent African-American inventor and maternal great-grandmother, Amelie Louis Ashton, a Senegalese slave.
Spouse(s): Lennie Hayton (married 1947-1971); Louis Jordan Jones (married 1937-1944)
Lena and 2nd Husband Louis Jordan Jones Lena and First Husband, Lennie Hayton
Children: Gail Buckley Lumet (December 21, 1937) and Terry Jones (February 7, 1940-September 12, 1970)
Lena & Daughter GailLena Horne & Children
Grandchildren: Jenny Lumet and Amy Lumet (Gail’s Children) Thomas, William, and Lena Jones (Teddy’s Children)
Lena Horne is a Grandmother of Twins – Jet Magazine, May 28, 1964
Thomas Jones (Terry’s Son)
Occupation: Actress, Singer, Dancer and Civil Rights Activist
In 1943 a long booking at the SavoyPlaza Hotel, which brought Horne national coverage and a number of movie appearances, established her as the highest-paid African American entertainer in the United States. She was signed to a seven-year contract with the movie studio Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)—the first African American woman since 1915 to sign a term contract with a film studio. She was not dark enough in color to star with many of the African American actors of the day and her roles in white films were limited, since Hollywood was not ready to portray interracial relationships on screen.
Given these harsh limitations imposed on African Americans in 1930s and 1940s Hollywood movies, Horne’s film career is impressive. After singing roles in Panama Hattie (1942), Harlem on Parade (1942), I Dood It (1943), Swing Fever (1943), and As Thousands Cheer (1943), she was given a starring role in an allblack story, Cabin in the Sky (1943), which also starred her idol, Ethel Waters (1900–1977). Another major role followed in Stormy Weather (1943) and then some nonspeaking roles in Broadway Rhythm (1944), Two Girls and a Sailor (1944), and a musical biography of Rodgers and Hart, Words and Music (1948). She refused to take on any roles that were disrespectful to her as a woman of color.
Horne, despite her great fame, continued to experience humiliating racial discrimination (wrongful treatment because of race), and in the late 1940s she sued a number of restaurants and theaters for race discrimination and also began working with Paul Robeson in the Progressive Citizens of America, a political group opposing racism. During World War II (1939–45; a war in which Germany, Italy, and Japan fought against France, Great Britain, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States), she used her own money to travel and entertain the troops. She also assisted Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) in her mission for antilynching legislation (laws making it illegal to hang a person accused of a crime without a trial). After the war Horne worked on behalf of Japanese Americans who faced discrimination.
In 1947 she married a white bandleader, Lennie Hayton, a marriage that was kept secret for three years because of racial pressures. Until his death in 1971, Hayton was also her pianist, arranger, conductor, and manager.
In the mid-1950s Horne made a movie appearance in Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956) and recorded for the first time in five years. In 1957 she drew record crowds to the Empire Room of the Waldorf-Astoria, and in 1958 and 1959 she starred in a Broadway musical, Jamaica.
During the 1960s Horne was involved in the American Civil Rights Movement. She participated in the March on Washington in 1963, performed at rallies in the South and elsewhere, and worked on behalf of the National Council for Negro Women. During the same period, she was also very visible on television, appearing on popular variety shows and in her own special, Lena in Concert, in 1969. In 1969 Horne starred in the movie Death of a Gunfighter.
In 1981 Horne had her greatest triumph, a Broadway show called Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, which was the talk of show business for fourteen months. It won a special Tony award, and the soundtrack won two Grammy awards.
In the 1990s Horne cut back on performing. She was drawn back from semiretirement to do a tribute concert for a long-time friend, composer Billy Strayhorn, at the JVC Jazz Festival. At age seventy-six she released her first album in a decade, We’ll Be Together Again. In 1997, on the occasion of her eightieth birthday, Horne was honored at the JVC Jazz Festival with a tribute concert and the Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement in Vocal Artistry. In 1999 she was honored at the New York City’s Avery Fisher Hall with an all-star salute.
Lena Horne is an amazing woman. Her pride in her heritage, her refusal to compromise herself, and her innate elegance, grace, and dignity has made her a legendary figure. Her role as a person who has helped to improve the status of African Americans in the performing arts has provided a permanent legacy.
Lena Horne, Ebony Magazine, March 1946
Quotes by or About Lena Horne:
Death: May 9, 2010 in Manhattan, New York City, New York
“So I made a few Holy Trinities that featured brown and dark skinned girls since the only ones we see onTumblr feature only light skinned Black women.”-Pink Cookie Dimples, Tumblr
Ashley is self described as June Cleaver with a sinister streak. This little lady loves living her retro lifestyle. She also has a special way with retro hairstyles that makes me green with envy. You can see Ashley out in about, offering up her expertise – here
Black pin-up, Hollywood Harlot (previously, Soy City Kitten), is a sexy lil’ kitten from the midwest. You want more? Well she’s always accepting more adoring fans on her facebook fan page, right over here.
Bombshell LOLA is a sexxy siren that will seduce you with her looks, then romance you with her jazz and blues vocals. Get a load of Lola on her fan page here.
GiGi Von Vroom, is a sweet mix of modern alt and classic pin-up style. Her pictures encompass the essence of vintage black pin-ups and singers from long ago. See more of her diverse pin-up modeling, here.
Lillian Raven is a curvy lil’ rocker gal pin-up from California. She loves music (especially metal), vintage clothing, and classic cars. More pictures of this dazzling dame are right over here.
Black pin-up Keena Royale is a recent college graduate that is quickly taking the pin-up world by storm. Miss Royale is a lover of anthropology, art, and of course – the vintage lifestyle. See more of this lovely lady by visiting her modeling page, here.
UK pin-up model Jessica-Louise Abidde was a finalist on cycle 7 of Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model. You can also find her regularly modeling vintage inspired lingerie, made by Kiss Me Deadly. See what Jessica has been up to, right here.
Black pin-up Angelique Noire has been modeling for over 15 years. This statuesque beauty has a passion for Hollywood glamour. Angelique models professionally for brands, runways, and you’ll even spot her in national commercials, or on the website of Pinupgirl Clothing. She posts regularly to her Facebook fan page, here
Betty Chantel, an east coast pin-up model, has been published in just about every retro/pin-up magazine you can imagine. Get more of Betty, on the regular, here on her facebook fan page .
So there you have it — just a few of the many beautiful black pin-up models out there living an alternative lifestyle. If you’re looking for more pin-up eye candy – there’s plenty where that came from. Visit theTokenBlackGirls Facebook page for more pictures of black pin-ups and African-American alternative models.
TheOriginalBlackWoman 
You must be logged in to post a comment.