Because the Black Weblog Award I yearn to win the most is the Best Writing in a Blog category, because today is the last day to vote, and also because I just celebrated my second bloggiversary, I figured now would be a great time to stroll down memory lane and share some of the Afrobella posts I’m proudest of. If I don’t celebrate myself, who will?

My mama. But her internet skills are lacking, so I’ll just do it myself anyway.

My very first post explains why I got on this journey to begin with. It all begins with my childhood hair idol, Diana Ross. I tell you — seeing her in Central Park in 1983 seared an image in my brain that will never go away. I used to put that towel on my head and sashay down the stairs, singing “I want muscles,” when I was way too young to know what she was talking about. That’s where I first realized that hair didn’t have to be pin straightened within an inch of its life to be sexy. Diana and her power mane, FOREVER.

Meeting Carol’s Daughter was my first attempt at interviewing someone for my brand new beauty blog. Lisa Price was cool as they come, and very receptive to an eager kinda-journalist who just wanted to hang out and observe the action for hours. I admired Mary J. Blige from afar, learned that stars really are just like us, met a legion of Carol’s Daughter fans, and had my first encounter with Hair Milk. The whole experience made me feel optimistic for Afrobella’s future. And it was the beginning of some cool interviews with some of my hair and makeup icons — like Billy B, Titi Branch, Mahisha Dellinger, and Anita Grant.

The Blacker the Berry, an homage to bellas a darker shade of beautiful, who typically don’t get the same level of admiration or appreciation that lighter skinner bellas do. That post was one of the earliest that tackled black beauty issues, which I’ve revisited time and time again in posts like Black Woman, Know That You Are Beautiful, In or Out of Vogue, and Nip Tuck.
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The only time I visited New Orleans was long before Hurricane Katrina, and it was a decadent visit. I overindulged in Bourbon Street pastimes and my memories of the city are hazy but delicious. I’ve yearned to go back ever since.

This weekend marks a horrific anniversary for the cradle of jazz, and three years later almost to the day, there’s a carefully planned city wide evacuation in the face of the category-four Hurricane Gustav. The news report I just saw on ABC indicated that Gustav could be a category five by Sunday.

I know how we here in Miami feel when our city is threatened by a hurricane — the frantic lines at the grocery store and the gas station, the pressure to safeguard your home and your worldly possessions, and to protect your family and pets. I can just imagine the fear and panic and emotion swirling in the hearts of Nawlins natives today, for whom the devastation of Katrina is a recent nightmare. I just wanted to offer support to everyone in New Orleans and up the coast all the way to Alabama. Be smart, stay safe, and our prayers are with you.

** photo courtesy Stereohyped.

Are you watching tonight? There’s no way I couldn’t! Tonight, before an enthusiastic audience estimated at 80,000 in Denver’s football stadium and millions around the world, Barack Obama will make a truly historic speech.

The first African American to be a major party’s nominee for President will deliver his acceptance speech. This historic occasion is taking place on the 45th anniversary of the March on Washington and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “I Have A Dream” speech. To an avowed Obama supporter like myself, this feels like destiny. The wellspring of emotion inside me is on overdrive already.

Stevie Wonder just rocked the house with Signed, Sealed, Delivered (LOL at Pat Buchanan during that, by the way), and now Al Gore is giving his speech. I figured I should keep a thread open for any of you who wanted to share your thoughts here, as history unfolds before our very eyes.

What are you thinking, feeling, and noticing bellas? I feel pretty positive right now. YES, WE CAN!

I am sad to say that I won’t be at New York Fashion Week this year… I’ve never been before so I had daydreams of attending and covering the fabulosity for Afrobella. But the very next week I’ve got somewhere more magical and important to be — I’ll be going to my sister-in-law’s Seventies karaoke wedding in VEGAS!! I am so excited, and I’m looking for the perfect Seventies style plus size dress. (Got any suggestions? Holla at a bella!)

Even though I won’t be able to hobnob with the fashionistas, I know quite a few of the beauty bloggers I respect and admire will be on hand to cover events as they happen.

I look forward to reading the coverage and criticism on Jezebel and Make Fetch Happen. And my beauty blogging amigas The Makeup Girl, 99 Products, and Shake Your Beauty (OMG Tia is so beautiful and glowing right now!) will definitely be covering events and sharing makeup tips, so I’ll be keeping track of what they’re saying.

According to The Cut, New York magazine’s awesome fashion blog, the whitewashed trend of colorless models might be more or less over — as explained in this unfortunate quote by casting director Daniel Peddle.

“Another thing this season is trying to discern from all the girls out there the ones that are ethnically ambiguous. Girls and boys that have faces that you can’t just put in a certain place or race or geography. I think it’s very helpful to see those types of faces in our conflicted world because you can see that we’re still evolving as humans and they are the results of people willing to go beyond the socially constructed notions around race … With the Internet and the way that everyone is so connected now it’s not something you can overlook anymore. I don’t think it’s possible to do a modern show and have it be all blondes. I understand that sometimes a designer has an aesthetic that dictates something like that and of course we’re going to work with them to achieve their goals but personally I don’t find that to be a very modern statement.”

So… I guess this is a step in the right direction, but I still find myself questioning the industry. Why go for ambiguity when you could just — be diverse? And show models of a variety of ethnicities, and celebrate the spectrum of beauty without being cliche and stereotypical? Is it THAT hard? Arrrrgh!

I am trying to reserve judgment until I see the models on the runway, but I think I already see where this is going. It kind of looks like a hat tip to Vogue Italia — see, we can be down with black models too! — but in the most cautious, selective, vague manner possible. Which goes against what fashion should be about in the first place, right?

What do you think, bellas? What are your expectations for Fashion Week? What are your hopes?

Seven years ago, on August 25, 2001 — the music world lost one of its brightest up and coming stars. Aaliyah’s death affected me profoundly then, and still her shadow looms so large over the music scene now. Who can blame lesser emulators for trying to jack her swagger?

I just spent the evening browsing around YouTube, watching countless Aaliyah videos and wondering what could have been. There are some wonderful Aaliyah tributes out there, but I found myself becoming super depressed. It’s almost impossible for me to choose just one Aaliyah video. So here are three of my faves.

Hot Like Fire was my JAM back in 97, 98. Freshman year of college. Man, oh man. Memories.

At Your Best (You Are Love) can bring tears to my eyes to this very day. Aaliyah’s voice is so crystal clear and so sparklingly beautiful on that track. Love it.

And of course, One in a Million. That stuttering bass, her angelic voice floating over it. Your smile, your style, so fly, I can’t deny. This track never gets played out.

There were some cool online tributes to Aaliyah this past week. Fashionista 101 did a great Aaliyah-inspired beauty makeover. Her eye shadow blending skills are sick! Spinner did a clash of the cover songs, featuring Aaliyah’s original version of Are You That Somebody versus The Gossip’s cover. In tribute to Aaliyah, The Fader is featuring an exclusive freeload by DJ the Honorable Caps titled U R Missed. If you’re a fan, you should check it out.

Click here to visit the Aaliyah memorial fund. At just 22 years old, baby girl left us way too soon. I know I’m not alone in wondering what could have been.

Unfortunately I missed Hillary’s speech last night — a dinner party took up the whole evening, and by the time I flipped on the tube it was already over. But from everything I’m reading, HRC is working hard to put the past behind her, and support the chosen Democratic candidate.

But for every one of her remaining supporters who plans to do what Hillary’s encouraging them to do — no way, no how, no McCain — there are those who apparently can’t get behind that sentiment. As revealed in this Washington Post article, there are holdouts who simply refuse to cast their vote for Obama, even though his policies are so similar to their would-be candidate.

The end of the article really got me in the gut: ““I hate Obama so much that I’m going to devote as much time to McCain as I did to Hillary,” said Adita Blanco, a Democrat from Edward, Okla., who has never voted for a Republican. “Obama has nothing. He has no experience. The Democratic Party doesn’t care about us. You couldn’t treat [Clinton] any worse.”

Clinton will hold a private meeting with her top financial advisers Wednesday, and many donors plan to leave immediately afterward. Terence R. McAuliffe, Clinton’s campaign chairman and the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, also plans to leave before Obama’s speech. Many of the women from 18 Million Voices, Fiechter’s pro-Clinton group, booked tickets for Wednesday and Thursday because “we really are taking a position of being indifferent to Obama,” Fiechter said.”

To me, that indicates that Adita from Oklahoma and the others who feel like she does — would rather see victory go to someone who directly opposes many of their candidate’s policies, rather than someone who supports them.

Hillary’s whole speech is already online, so click here to watch if you haven’t seen it yet. I’ll be watching after my deadline today, and I’ll post my two cents in the comments later.

Did you watch Hillary’s speech last night, bellas and fellas? How did she do? And is there any hope for convincing those who were apparently unmoved by even their own candidate’s exhortations, or women like this, who are moved to tears at the prospect of voting for Barack?