Serena Williams, Beyoncé, Misty Copeland, Queen Latifah, Ciara, Kerry Washington, Willow Smith and Amandla Stenberg are taking magazines everywhere by storm as all eight of them are covering September issues.
While it’s amazing to see so many black women represented at once in an industry that has long been criticized for being too white, what’s even more amazing about this news is that the September issues of magazines are widely regarded as the highest-regarded issues in a year.
“With any black celebrity your color is no longer black. Your color is green,” magazine analyst Samir Husni told TheWrap. “They transcend race. For example, Serena Williams is not just playing tennis for black Americans. This marks magazines continuing their role of reflecting society. The more celebrities attract a wide audience — black, white, hispanic — the more we are going to see them on the cover of magazines.”
The black girl takeover of fashion's September issues is beyond anything I've seen as a journalist. pic.twitter.com/XevVEnyoqR
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) August 18, 2015
While the industry still has a long way to go, at least this year, we can say it’s making strides in the right direction.