Black icons dominate Harper’s Bazaar’s 2023 Icons issue

Singer, actress, producer, director, and more, Teyana Taylor is still evolving after years in the entertainment industry. From choreographing Beyoncé’s “Ring the Alarm” music video to creating platinum-selling records, Taylor has left her mark as a musician and performer. As the star retired from her music career, Taylor stepped into her pseudonym “Spike Tey” by launching an all-female production company, “The Aunties Production,” in which she showcased her talents as a video director, producer, and creative director.

Since leading her team to victory with a historic win in the NCAA National Championship, Louisiana State University basketball player Angel Reese captivated fans with her charisma on and off the court. Known as the “Bayou Barbie,” Reese has become one of the top-earning college athletes through NIL (name, image and likeness) endorsements. “I’ve always been confident. I am unapologetic,” Reese tells Harper’s Bazaar. “I stay firm on what I believe in, and, being a Black woman, I can do whatever I put my mind to.”

During her rise to stardom, Doja Cat has always been unapologetically herself. From her musical blend of rap, pop, disco and punk to her provocative sartorial choices, Doja Cat’s uniqueness captivated fans and catapulted her to stardom. As she pushes back against the prototype of mainstream fame, Doja Cat tells Harper’s Bazaar: “I don’t feel like a lost little teen … I feel like a woman who is coming into her own.”

Writer and director Nia DaCosta’s rapid ascension in Hollywood has been historic, as the award-winning writer-director of “Little Woods” also became the first Black female filmmaker to have a film debut at No.1 for 2021’s “Candyman.” DaCosta, who incorporates sociocultural layers into her storytelling, tells Harper’s Bazaar: “As I came into myself as a young black woman, I realized there’s a whole type of person and human experience that is just not on-screen. That really pushed me toward what I do now, which is tell stories about people you don’t often see stories about.”

At 21 years old, Leila Mottley became a New York Times bestselling author, the youngest person to be nominated for a Booker Prize, and was featured in Oprah Winfrey’s book club. Mottley made her writing debut with the novel “Nightcrawling,” a book exploring gentrification, abuse and corruption through the eyes of a Black teenager in Oakland, Calif. “My work is propelled by the idea of silences and what it looks like to lean into discomfort and into the spaces that we are afraid to talk about,” said Mottley, per Harper’s Bazaar. “We only grow and evolve when we’re uncomfortable.”

In April, Republican Tennessee House members voted to oust Democratic Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson for an in-chamber protest advocating for stricter gun control after a tragic mass shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School which killed six people, including three children. Despite efforts to expel them, Jones and Pearson were swiftly reinstated by local authorities, subsequently winning re-election in August. While “the Justins’” journey is inspiring, it also highlighted the divisive strain within American institutions and its potential to impede vital progress.

At just 16 years old, Zaya Wade serves as an inspiration for trans children and the LGBTQ+ community. The eldest daughter of NBA Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade came out as transgender at the age of 12 under the judgemental eye of social media. Today, Zaya Wade hopes to leverage her platform to guarantee visibility and acceptance for LGBTQ+ individuals of every generation by documenting the ups and downs of her own journey.