Anne Trips Over Coddington's Mammy Jars As Joan Smalls Confronts Fashion Industry Racism

Grace Coddington's Mammy Jars Collection.jpg

Joan Smalls Confronts Fashion Industry Racism, As Anne Trips Into Grace's Mammy Jars

The first black person I ever saw in life was a real black woman Aunt Jemima. I remember her serving little appetizer-size pancakes in a grocery store in a tiny Minnesota town when I was growing up. I thought she was magnificent — independent and on the road, creating her own life, traveling to new places, center stage in the grocery store lighting up the place like Christmas in July.

If only I could be like her when I grew up. To me, she was a movie star — a beautiful, talented movie star — and I loved her skin, her smile and — most of all — her self-confidence.

For the Love of Mammy

For reasons I’ve never fully understood, I was committed to civil rights at a very young age — and not because we discussed the issue at the family dinner table. Only when I became a teenager and watched the agonizing brutality of civil rights protests on TV, did I understand that perhaps Aunt Jemima’s life wasn’t so totally wonderful after all.

I was shocked to discover this weekend that former Creative Director of American Vogue Grace Coddington proudly displayed her collection of mammy jars in a French lifestyle magazine last year. Frankly, I was totally disgusted with a woman I’ve admired greatly in fashion world.

You’re reading the words of someone who became so agitated at a dinner party in Connecticut 25 years ago, that I feigned a migraine just so I could excuse myself from the other guests and lie down.

Not wanting to embarrass my investment banker partner, I needed to exit stage right from the despicable dinner table conversations about people of color. He knew, of course, what was going on, and when he came to check on me in the guest room, I suggested to him that I would just return to Manhattan alone on the train and he could come Sunday morning. To his credit, he told our hosts and other guests that I had a terrible history of migraines (not true) and he wanted to take me back to New York.

aunt-jemima.jpg

After reading Anna Wintour’s apology regarding racism at Condé Nast (see article), I find it impossible to believe that none of Grace Coddington’s fashion friends suggested to her that her black mammys should be retired for good.

Grace Coddington’s home spread coincided with the infamous Prada Soho store key chain incident and accusations of blackface against Gucci.

The History of Aunt Jemima

Sarah Doneghy shares the facts of Aunt Jemima’s birth as a cultural icon in her 2018 Black Excellence essay: It Was Never About the Pancakes.

Aunt Jemima was first introduced as a minstrel show character. The characters in these shows were white people in blackface, portraying black people as “dimwitted, lazy, easily frightened, chronically idle, superstitious, happy-go-lucky buffoons,” writes Doneghy.

Her roots came from an old Billy Kersands song “Old Aunt Jemima”, a story sung by slave hands.

The lyrics tell of the promise to be set free yet remaining a slave forever. “My old missus promise me  . . .When she died she-d set me free . . . She lived so long her head got bald . . . She swore she would not die at all . . .” were some of the lyrics.

Many argue that the stage vision of Mammy — the one on Grace Coddington’s jars and pancake mix boxes — never really existed. “The Mammy pictured female household slaves as: fat, middle-aged, dark-skinned, undesirable . . . happy to serve whites, always smiling . . . The ugly truth is that they were: thin . . . young . . . light-skinned, a daughter of rape; desirable to white men and therefore raped, utterly powerless, extremely unhappy . . .” writes Doneghy.

Time To Retire the Mammy Jars, Grace. Perhaps a Public Smashing?

If true, this is one more reason for Grace Coddington to ditch her mammy jars, as they are very dark skinned and deliberately designed to appear unattractive to white men — and, therefore, not a threat to white women. That’s a whole lotta baggage around one set of jars, Grace Coddington.

Now that Vogue Global Artistic Director, Global Content Advisor and Editor-in-Chief of American Vogue Anna Wintour is determined to root out racism at Condé Nast, those jars could be the first post in a new monthly Vogue feature.

Consider a confessional column “How I Confronted My Own Quiet Racism”, with current and former Condé Nast execs leading by example. It could be on Instagram — asking other owners of racist memorabilia to share pictures of them taking out the trash. It might be a bit embarrassing, but think of all the street cred Vogue could build. Beyoncé could write a song. Vogue could be honored at the next Global Citizen festival. This could be big . . . very big.”

Condé Nast could launch this campaign the day after voters send Donald Trump packing in November. America is turning a new page and Grace’s mammy jars are step one. We work our way to the Biden Inauguration, one gesture each day. I love it!! ~ Anne

How DC Mayor Bowser Used Graffiti to Protect Public Space

How DC Mayor Bowser Used Graffiti to Protect Public Space

When President Donald Trump sent heavily armed federal law enforcement officers and unidentified officers in riot gear into Washington, D.C. during the height of protests recently, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser responded by painting “BLACK LIVES MATTER” directly on the street leading to the White House.

While many spoke of it as a daring political act, for artists like me, it was also an act of urban intervention, an artistic act intended to transform an existing structure or institution, that reclaimed public space back for the public. And she accomplished this with little physical matter at all.

Her action – expressing dissent by marking an oppressive environment – references graffiti, which has been called the “language of the ignored.”

Art scholars note that most types of graffiti are meant to claim or reclaim territory by those who are systematically excluded. “Writers” often work quickly and at night, when they are less likely to be seen and arrested for painting on others’ property without consent.

Bowser’s action would likely be considered vandalism if not for the fact that it was carried out by the city’s Department of Public Works, using city funds. She wielded municipal services as artistic tools to condemn another state-sanctioned action, the violence perpetrated against Black people.

Emmanuel Adjaye by Jon Gorrigan for The Guardian Fashion June 2020

Emmanuel Adjaye by Jon Gorrigan for The Guardian Fashion June 2020

The Guardian’s fashion editor Helen Seamons puts menswear artistry center stage in ‘A Brush With Greatness’, photographed in the studio of British artist Matt Small. Photographer Jon Gorrigan captures model Emmanuel Adjaye, with Seamons also interviewing Small for “I want to get a sense of Jazz in my work.”

Serena Williams Steps Up For Vital Voices; Alexis Ohanian Sr. Resigns Reddit Board

Serena Williams Steps Up For Vital Voices; Alexis Ohanian Sr. Resigns Reddit Board

Tennis legend, black activist, fashion designer — and yes, now venture capitalist — Serena Williams became the global spokeswoman for Stuart Weitzman in early May. Photographer Ethan James Green captures Serena in campaign images that present her fierce power and beauty unbowed.

The power of the project for Serena lies in Stuart Weitzman’s alliance with the Vital Voices Global Partnership  Tapped to choose two women leaders to participate with her in the campaign, Williams tapped Ashlee Wisdom and Sage Ke’alohilani Quiamno. Wisdom is the founder of  Health in Her Hue, a platform that connects black women to culturally competent health-care providers. Ke’alohilani Quiamno, founder of Future for Us, a civic organization that gives women of color the tools to succeed in the highest levels of corporate and social-sector careers.

Alexis Ohanian Sr. Resigns from Reddit Board

It’s Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian Sr.that made the big news today — June 8 — as word of his resignation from the board of directors of Reddit traveled through media channels. The co-founder of Reddit recommended that his spot be filled by a Black candidate amid activists’ calls for more representation of BlPOC in positions of power in global companies.

"I co-founded Reddit 15 years ago to help people find community and a sense of belonging," Ohanian wrote across his social media channels, pulling from a blog post on his site. "It is long overdue to do the right thing. I'm doing this for me, for my family, and for my country." Along with the statement to the public, Ohanian embedded a video message from his Instagram account onto his blog entry, and in it he reiterates his original statement.

Revisiting the Johanna Ortiz X H&M Spring 2020 Collab In A Flower Power World

Revisiting the Johanna Ortiz X H&M Spring 2020 Collab In A Flower Power World

The Johanna Ortiz X H&M Spring 2020 collab is one of the Spring 2020 beauties lost in the COVID-19 pandemic. Following on the success of her Fall 2019 collection for H&M, Ortiz returned for spring. Describing the designer, H&M wrote:

If you don’t know that Johanna Ortiz hails from the birthplace of salsa, her energetic designs will give you some immediate pointers. Dramatic, luscious, extravagant — Johanna Ortiz’s dresses are the kind of pieces you’ll want to throw on and start dancing in. They tap their own beat, and demand the wearer does the same.

It’s not only fashion lovers who feel the rhythm of Ortiz’s collections. There’s an irresistible sense of joy and power at the heart of the Colombian designer’s work that has the world’s most powerful women smitten. Michelle Obama opted for Johanna Ortiz during her book tour, at parties, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Alexa Chung and Jessica Biel count Ortiz’s designs as must-haves. Olivia Palermo wears Ortiz to set her style agenda, and when it came to serving a major look at Jennifer Lawrence’s wedding, it was Johanna Ortiz that Sienna Miller favored. 

H&M Magazine then interviewed Ortiz about her frankly-feminine, design vision that resonates deeply with so many women leaders.