Unapologetically Pretty, Black, and Educated.

In the portrait, a beautiful Black woman looks straight ahead. On one side, she is modeling a raspberry silk gown. On the other, she wears gold-rimmed glasses, with a framed Ph.D. diploma behind her. I wanted both sides to have the same face. The woman who knows exactly how to turn for the camera is the same woman who knows how to defend a dissertation.

I have always loved what happens when a Black woman gets dressed up for her own pleasure. She takes one last look in the mirror, decides the earrings are exactly right, and leaves the house feeling good about what she sees. There is a particular joy in wearing something you love and letting yourself enjoy the attention it brings. She can accept a compliment with a simple “thank you” and keep on enjoying her evening.

I know the pleasure of modeling and the satisfaction of sitting with a difficult subject until I understand it well enough to write about it. In front of a camera, I pay attention to what a small change in posture does to the whole picture. At my desk, I notice when a source raises a question I hadn’t thought to ask. I can spend an afternoon getting a paragraph right and still take my time choosing a dress for dinner.

The Grandassa Models understood the power of choosing how to present themselves. At the Natural Beauty fashion shows that began in Harlem in 1962, the models wore their natural hair and helped bring the “Black Is Beautiful” movement to life. Photographs from those shows still hold my attention. The women knew how to carry a garment, and their confidence came through in the way they stood, looked at the camera, and took up space onstage. vogue.com

I think about the women who made room for Black girls to study, too. In 1881, the school that became Spelman College began in the basement of a Black Baptist church in Atlanta. It was founded to educate Black women and girls. Something is moving about picturing those first students walking into a church basement for class, bringing their questions with them and expecting to be taught. Atlanta, GA

Years later, at NASA, Katherine Johnson was trusted with questions that had consequences far beyond the room she worked in. She verified the orbital calculations for John Glenn’s 1962 flight. When I look at the photograph of her at her desk with a globe nearby, I think about the concentration that work took. I also think about the Black girl who might see that photograph and decide to ask her teacher for something harder to solve. NASA

A framed diploma brings to mind all the evenings that came before it. Dinner gets cold while you check a reference. You read a page three times before the argument clicks. You open a draft you were proud of yesterday and realize the second paragraph needs to go. Then, one day, you pick out a frame for the degree you earned. I hope the woman in the portrait hung hers somewhere she can see it from her favorite chair.

Some women are earning their degrees now, between work shifts, family responsibilities, and bills that arrive right on schedule. Some are returning to school years after they first imagined themselves graduating. And some have spent years educating themselves through books, work, and the habit of asking better questions. I admire the woman who opens a textbook after a long day because there is something in it she genuinely wants to understand.

I want Black girls to have room to discover all the things they enjoy. Let a girl love the way a dress moves when she spins. Give her time to explain the idea she’s been thinking about all week. If she wants to design the dress, study the history of the fabric, or calculate how much it would cost to produce, give her the tools to find out. She may surprise herself with what she wants to learn next.

If I could hang that portrait somewhere, I’d put it where a Black girl could stand close enough to see the woman’s expression. I’d want her to notice the gown first if that’s what catches her eye, then read the diploma over the woman’s shoulder. And I’d love to hear what she says when she turns away from the picture and starts telling me what she wants to do.