CLEOPATRA: And Black Beauty in the 1970s

The 1970s were the zenith of the 'Black is Beautiful' movement, following the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s - creating an opportunity for Black people in America to create and present more empowered identities for themselves. For Black Women, one particular icon shone brightest, offering a specific image of strength, self-confidence, and beauty. Cleopatra had been the MUSE of artists and filmmakers and photographers for centuries, but in the '70s, she became a very unique beauty brand that ultimately helped define a generation of women in the United States. And yet, Cleopatra was not an African woman but she certainly helped to elevate the esteem and the social and cultural presence of Black Women from the 1970s onward.

Beauty Brands in this video include: Afro Sheen, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, Flori Roberts, Ultra Sheen, Kevin Aucoin Beauty
Fashion Brands include: Dior
Magazine Pictorials include: Ebony, Vogue, Jet
Photography highlighted from: Kwame Brathwaite, Francesco Scavullo, Annie Leibowitz,
Film Footage from: MGM, Warner Brothers
Models featured include: Helen Gardner (Cleopatra, 1912), Theda Bara (Cleopatra, 1917), Claudette Colbert (Cleopatra, 1934), Vivien Leigh (Caesar and Cleopatra, 1945), Pat Cleveland, Beverly Johnson, Diahann Carroll, Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra, 1963), Tamara Dobson (Cleopatra Jones, 1973 ), Donna Summer (Jet, 1976), Grace Jones (Vogue, 1979), Eartha Kitt (Ebony), Iman, Tina Turner (Kevin Aucoin Beauty, 1999), Halle Berry (Superbowl Ad, 2002), Rihanna, Janelle Monae, Zendaya, and Beyonce.