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Earlier this week, I received a message from a friend requesting that we go on a hot girl walk and dine this weekend. Excited, I said yes of course! Due to life truly lifing for each of my friends, I have not seen any of my girls in months and I must admit, I really miss them. The request reminded me of some of the spring and summer days she and I had last year. Hot girl walks, nearby city day trips to try new food, beaching, and expresso martini hangouts were in full effect. Last year I claimed my...

"Black American debutante balls can be traced back to 1778 in New York, when the first debutante was recorded by a newspaper, with the first official ball occurring in 1895 in New Orleans" (New York Times). Black debutante balls present young girls from Black communities to society. Young ladies are encouraged to exemplify good manners, grooming, and social etiquette. But unlike other debutante balls, whose primary goal is to prepare and present young women for marriage, Black debutante balls prepare debutantes for the world outside of the protection of their social circles and communities. Within Black communities, the spotlight is...

In 1948 Ophelia DeVore-Mitchell, former model, agent, charm-school director and newspaper publisher, opened the first black charm school to teach African-American women etiquette, self-preservation and confidence.  Long before the phrase “Black is beautiful” gained currency in the 1960s, Mrs. DeVore-Mitchell was preaching that ethos by example. In New York in the 1940s — an age when modeling schools, and modeling jobs, were overwhelmingly closed to African Americans — Ophelia helped start the Grace del Marco Modeling Agency and later founded the Ophelia DeVore School of Self-Development and Modeling. As a charm-school director, Mrs. DeVore-Mitchell taught dress, diction and deportment to thousands of students,...