Comments on: Lost Ones: Donyale Luna http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/ ~ all shades of beautiful Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:38:11 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Dossier Journal » Naomi Sims 1948 – 2009: The world’s first black supermodel http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-261589 Dossier Journal » Naomi Sims 1948 – 2009: The world’s first black supermodel Mon, 24 Aug 2009 12:30:55 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-261589 [...] like Adrienne Fidelin, Dorothea Towles Church and Donyale Luna may have paved the way, but Halston called her the first black supermodel. She posed with Andy [...] [...] like Adrienne Fidelin, Dorothea Towles Church and Donyale Luna may have paved the way, but Halston called her the first black supermodel. She posed with Andy [...]

]]> By: Wee http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-259015 Wee Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:43:35 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-259015 Gee, it is too clear who you are... Seems still can't forget about your ex-wife, it is really a shame. Mr Gee! LOL Gee, it is too clear who you are…
Seems still can’t forget about your ex-wife, it is really a shame. Mr Gee! LOL

]]> By: don strachan http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-243263 don strachan Sun, 17 May 2009 04:16:47 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-243263 For a book I am writing about Donyale, I would love to contact Karen Miller and Carla. Is there a way to do this? For a book I am writing about Donyale, I would love to contact Karen Miller and Carla. Is there a way to do this?

]]> By: Mandown http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-219767 Mandown Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:50:39 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-219767 This is an interesting article purely for the fact that this woman's attitude to her racial identity is exactly the same of so many many black women today. These are the ones who are completely devoid of any self pride in being black. They'll say things like their great grandmother was 1/2 Arabic just so it mitigates being black. It sickens me. These types of blacks are still seen as "negroes" by white people, yet they wanna deny being black in any way possible. Fuck them, I say. They're not worth dealing with, especially by black women who are proud of their blackness. This woman was beautiful but she shouldn't be celebrated by black women at all. Her mentality is what years of slavery did to the mindsets of people and it should not be followed. Why glorify Ms Luna if she hated being black? This is an interesting article purely for the fact that this woman’s attitude to her racial identity is exactly the same of so many many black women today. These are the ones who are completely devoid of any self pride in being black. They’ll say things like their great grandmother was 1/2 Arabic just so it mitigates being black. It sickens me. These types of blacks are still seen as “negroes” by white people, yet they wanna deny being black in any way possible. Fuck them, I say. They’re not worth dealing with, especially by black women who are proud of their blackness.

This woman was beautiful but she shouldn’t be celebrated by black women at all. Her mentality is what years of slavery did to the mindsets of people and it should not be followed. Why glorify Ms Luna if she hated being black?

]]> By: SoFrolushes http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-198049 SoFrolushes Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:43:07 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-198049 never heard of her before but the comments yrs later on this blog have made an interesting read never heard of her before but the comments yrs later on this blog have made an interesting read

]]> By: don strachan http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-197831 don strachan Thu, 29 Jan 2009 07:44:45 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-197831 I dated Donyale for some months in 1963/64, before she became famous. This winter I finally wrote it up, and then as a lark I googled her, and found this site, along with so many more! I knew she had hit the big time (we got together twice in Beverly Hills in 1967), but had no idea how big she was in Europe, or that she is still regarded as an icon today. It has been a very emotional experience for me. I (a whitey) want to comment on her denial of her roots. Two incidents come to mind. Once I took her to eat at the Famous Italian Cafe on Woodward, where I worked. The next night when I came to work, I thought the staff would be impressed. When I asked one of the waitresses how she liked Donyale, she called me aside and said, "We don't like them coming in here." "She's not Negro," I said. "She's Polynesian." (Donyale had told me that, and I believed her.) "It doesn't matter," said the waitress. "We don't like them coming in." Another time I brought her over to my slum apartment near Wayne State University. It was late at night and the outside door was locked. I roused the manager to let us in. The next morning he called me aside. "We don't allow them in here," he said. "She's not Negro," I said. "She's Polynesian." "Don't matter," he said. "We don't allow them in." Yep, almost identical words. A week or two later, she came unannounced one night to visit me. The manager wouldn't let her in. This was 1964. The Civil Rights movement was just getting underway in the South, and it hadn't reached Detroit yet. Donyale was not a trailblazer. I used to think she lied to me about things in her life, and eventually decided that she couldn't separate fantasy from reality. Now I can see that she dealt with the painful aspects of her life by making up more comforting stories and proclaiming them to be true. You figure, she was probably 6 feet tall by the age of 12, and skinny as a rail, and endured a lot of humiliation about her looks before becoming so exotically beautiful. I think she did whatever she could do to avoid further humiliations—like being turned away from her boyfriend's apartment building. As for continuing the charade once she was famous—she had a very fragile personality. I haven't seen any documentation for the allegation that her father was "abusive" (physically? emotionally? sexually?) and she never mentioned her family to me, but in retrospect I feel sure that *something* pretty serious happened to her in her childhood that she never recovered from. I'd like to know more about the drug allegations. To say she was a druggie and support it with her quote about what she had gotten from LSD shows a real ignorance of drugs: LSD enhanced the lives of most people who took it in the Sixties and Seventies. She had red lines in her eyes when I saw her in Beverly Hills, but she could have just been tired. On the other hand, she was running with the cultural high-rollers, where drugs were everywhere. The obituary from the Detroit paper said she died of "undisclosed causes," which I suspected meant drugs. Now all the websites say it was an overdose. Only one says it was accidental. Does anyone know more about this? I dated Donyale for some months in 1963/64, before she became famous. This winter I finally wrote it up, and then as a lark I googled her, and found this site, along with so many more! I knew she had hit the big time (we got together twice in Beverly Hills in 1967), but had no idea how big she was in Europe, or that she is still regarded as an icon today. It has been a very emotional experience for me.
I (a whitey) want to comment on her denial of her roots. Two incidents come to mind. Once I took her to eat at the Famous Italian Cafe on Woodward, where I worked. The next night when I came to work, I thought the staff would be impressed. When I asked one of the waitresses how she liked Donyale, she called me aside and said, “We don’t like them coming in here.”
“She’s not Negro,” I said. “She’s Polynesian.” (Donyale had told me that, and I believed her.)
“It doesn’t matter,” said the waitress. “We don’t like them coming in.”
Another time I brought her over to my slum apartment near Wayne State University. It was late at night and the outside door was locked. I roused the manager to let us in.
The next morning he called me aside. “We don’t allow them in here,” he said.
“She’s not Negro,” I said. “She’s Polynesian.”
“Don’t matter,” he said. “We don’t allow them in.” Yep, almost identical words.
A week or two later, she came unannounced one night to visit me. The manager wouldn’t let her in.
This was 1964. The Civil Rights movement was just getting underway in the South, and it hadn’t reached Detroit yet. Donyale was not a trailblazer. I used to think she lied to me about things in her life, and eventually decided that she couldn’t separate fantasy from reality. Now I can see that she dealt with the painful aspects of her life by making up more comforting stories and proclaiming them to be true.
You figure, she was probably 6 feet tall by the age of 12, and skinny as a rail, and endured a lot of humiliation about her looks before becoming so exotically beautiful. I think she did whatever she could do to avoid further humiliations—like being turned away from her boyfriend’s apartment building.
As for continuing the charade once she was famous—she had a very fragile personality. I haven’t seen any documentation for the allegation that her father was “abusive” (physically? emotionally? sexually?) and she never mentioned her family to me, but in retrospect I feel sure that *something* pretty serious happened to her in her childhood that she never recovered from.
I’d like to know more about the drug allegations. To say she was a druggie and support it with her quote about what she had gotten from LSD shows a real ignorance of drugs: LSD enhanced the lives of most people who took it in the Sixties and Seventies. She had red lines in her eyes when I saw her in Beverly Hills, but she could have just been tired. On the other hand, she was running with the cultural high-rollers, where drugs were everywhere. The obituary from the Detroit paper said she died of “undisclosed causes,” which I suspected meant drugs. Now all the websites say it was an overdose. Only one says it was accidental. Does anyone know more about this?

]]> By: Before their time: Donyale Luna « Observations and Musings http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-176901 Before their time: Donyale Luna « Observations and Musings Wed, 10 Dec 2008 18:13:00 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-176901 [...] This brings me to the topic of this post, Ms. Donyale Luna.  Ms. Luna was the first Black model to grace the cover of Vogue magazine in 1966.  Born in Detroit with the birth name Peggy Ann Freeman, Ms. Luna was discovered by photographer David McCabe and quickly moved to New York to start her career.  In addition to a modeling career, Ms. Luna was also a party of Andy Warhol’s Factory and starred in a Federico Fellini film.  As a model, Luna supposedly demanded $60 a day for bookings, which was a pretty hefty rate during those times.  During my research, I saw an excellent post from Afrobella, who excellently summed up her life and career. [...] [...] This brings me to the topic of this post, Ms. Donyale Luna.  Ms. Luna was the first Black model to grace the cover of Vogue magazine in 1966.  Born in Detroit with the birth name Peggy Ann Freeman, Ms. Luna was discovered by photographer David McCabe and quickly moved to New York to start her career.  In addition to a modeling career, Ms. Luna was also a party of Andy Warhol’s Factory and starred in a Federico Fellini film.  As a model, Luna supposedly demanded $60 a day for bookings, which was a pretty hefty rate during those times.  During my research, I saw an excellent post from Afrobella, who excellently summed up her life and career. [...]

]]> By: Barbara http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-171834 Barbara Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:54:27 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-171834 Donyale, thy wings of innocence really did ascend to Heaven. For many years I have prayed for your little girl that I only felt as unborn. For I adored Donyale, first in New York, then later in Los Angeles. Playboy honored her universal beauty as did Donyale. We were very much alike in our mutual love for freedom, I suppose that is why we felt comfortable, although I held her in unearthly awe.Imagination is the fine virtue that elevates us from our roots, yet the sentiment remains. For those who remain amoung the living, She is ageless Guardian Angel Of Beauty, limitless & truly infinite. With love to her child, Barbara. HerNewGod@aol.com Donyale, thy wings of innocence really did ascend to Heaven. For many years I have prayed for your little girl that I only felt as unborn. For I adored Donyale, first in New York, then later in Los Angeles. Playboy honored her universal beauty as did Donyale. We were very much alike in our mutual love for freedom, I suppose that is why we felt comfortable, although I held her in unearthly awe.Imagination is the fine virtue that elevates us from our roots, yet the sentiment remains. For those who remain amoung the living, She is ageless Guardian Angel Of Beauty, limitless & truly infinite. With love to her child, Barbara. HerNewGod@aol.com

]]> By: sara http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-161609 sara Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:39:59 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-161609 I found this article and information about Donyale very interesting. I ran across it after googling African American First. I agree with other writers, that most of us then and even now have to do what we need to in order to succeed and fulfil our fustrations. She was ahead of her time, and bold and beutiful and smart. Bless the ones who knew and loved her personally. Other models of today should pay homage to a great and troubled (only because of society). If she was free to be her, she would not have been labeled weird, etc... by the way, I will be 55 next month, and yes I do know the internet very well. Haven't you heard, the 50's are the new 30's and because we were baby boomers, the creaters of the hip generation, we are just as in tune with hip-hop, internet, ipod, black berry and everything you kids know, and we just love to see what's next with you fabulous generation. I found this article and information about Donyale very interesting. I ran across it after googling African American First. I agree with other writers, that most of us then and even now have to do what we need to in order to succeed and fulfil our fustrations. She was ahead of her time, and bold and beutiful and smart. Bless the ones who knew and loved her personally. Other models of today should pay homage to a great and troubled (only because of society). If she was free to be her, she would not have been labeled weird, etc…
by the way, I will be 55 next month, and yes I do know the internet very well. Haven’t you heard, the 50’s are the new 30’s and because we were baby boomers, the creaters of the hip generation, we are just as in tune with hip-hop, internet, ipod, black berry and everything you kids know, and we just love to see what’s next with you fabulous generation.

]]> By: Aubrey http://www.afrobella.com/2007/04/27/lost-ones-donyale-luna/comment-page-2/#comment-159609 Aubrey Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:44:51 +0000 http://afrobella.com/?p=238#comment-159609 I find that it's very hard to believe anything that "GEE" said in his/her comments, due to the fact that he/she can't even use the right form of there/their/they're. Plus, he/she can't use a/an correctly. Jeez, people, GRAMMAR! I find that it’s very hard to believe anything that “GEE” said in his/her comments, due to the fact that he/she can’t even use the right form of there/their/they’re. Plus, he/she can’t use a/an correctly. Jeez, people, GRAMMAR!

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