New look, New attitude.

As I got off the subway and sped past a small indoor convenient store, I couldn't help but notice one last copy of the July 2008 issue of Essence magazine. As a faithful reader, I have a subscription back home and continuosly refrained from purchasing the newest issue until I could get my hands on my pre-paid copy. However, seeing the glow in Gabrielle Union' s skin and the fierce new cut she's sporting fabulously I had to at least sneak a peek. As usual, being the only customer I felt as if the store clerks had all eyes on me. $3.99? What the heck, might as well get it. In the article, Ms. Union happily discusses her statuesque frame and her rejuvenated confidence. As mentioned in the previous blog, the more content you feel with your physical appearance, the more stamina you have allowing you to feel in control of your life. In the article, referring to her short hair cut, Gabrielle states:

"I felt fierce, fierce as the devil. I can already tell that people take you a little bit more seriously when they're not distracted by long
curly locks. I wanted something different and dramatic, and this is it."




Rewind:Back in December 2007, Essence published an article with Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, as well as Gabrielle Union. In a part of their conversation they touched upon gossip, papparazzi, and blogs created by black women.


ON GOSSIP

Essence: How do you deal with the 24-hours-a-day gossip that comes out on the Internet?

Gabrielle: Just last week somebody gave me a baby. This isn’t Perez Hilton or the White gossip people, these are women of color, specifically Black women who, for whatever reason, don’t like the company I keep.

Sanaa: She’s talking about the gossip sites.

Essence: The blogs.

Sanaa: That are run by Black women.

Gabrielle: And now because everyone is clamoring for celebrity tidbits, the bigger gossip sites and even mainstream entities are picking up on it. No fact-checking, no nothing. And in one week’s time, there were like five different dudes, a baby—I’m a homewrecker. In literally seven days. I can’t point the finger at the White media. They don’t care about us. Paparazzi are not staked out in front of any of our houses. They are not going through our garbage because they don’t care about us in that way. So when you hear crap about us, it is coming from our own community, which hurts.

Nia: We are some of the few Black actresses whose passions are rooted in our community.

Gabrielle: There is this idea that there is integrity in journalism; if it’s written it has to be true. But that’s not the case. When blogs or any of the magazines get it wrong, there’s no accountability. In the next breath, they’ll complain on the blogs that we don’t have enough Black stars. Well, you rip us to shreds every two seconds from our nose to the weave to the clothes to the shoes to the ashy ankles.

Food For Thought.