As I flip those glossy pages....

I love to read magazines.

I will look through other magz but Ebony, Essence, Seventeen, Vogue, and Teen Vogue are the main ones.

As I flip through each glossy page I noticed something: there are NO magazines targeted towards YOUNG BLACK WOMEN.

While I love reading Ebony, Vogue and Essence, some things aren't targeted towards someone in my age range (I'm 21). As a young adult, I would like to read about topics that are more relevant to me, not my older sister (no offense, lol).

Vogue is known to ignore Black models all together but I they're making strides by putting JHud and Michelle Obama on the covers...i guess.

Then comes Seventeen and Teen Vogue. This magazine covers topics like, sex, health, education and fashion (Seventeen on a budget; Teen Vogue high-end). Fine. But most of it is targeted to white girls. Yes, white girls.

Seventeen does waaaaay better at being diverse than Teen Vogue, that I must say. However, they may have an article about hair for black girls and all we see are women like Beyonce (who wears lace fronts and other women with relaxers O_o). We, as black girls, are tooo diverse when it comes to hair/makeup to put us in one category. Sorry.

Then there's Teen Vogue. As a monthly subscriber, I've noticed that the ones that reoccur in the magazines are Rihanna, models Chanel Iman and Jourdan Dunn, Keke Palmer and the one random black model that they put in every spread so it can be diverse. O please. Even in The Teen Vogue Handbook there were like three Black people in the (that's including Chanel Iman).

After reading each magazine every month, I am left with a void. No, really. Because there are soooo many smart, classy, fashionable Black girls out there and no one is giving them a voice. There should be a a magazine target towards Black teens and young adults. Maybe even two, to separate the two age groups. There we can discuss things that are universal to girls (i.e. boys, clothes, friend drama, and school) and things that are unique in the Black community (i.e. hair styles for natural girls, skin issues, whether or not to attend an HBCU).

I think it would be great if Essence or Ebony started their own little-sister magazine. But why wait? I should start one myself.....

Until next time,

LeonaDee

O Baby

Lately there's been some controversy over Sandra Bullocks's adoption of baby Louis, an African American boy from New Orleans.

I've seen people comment on different sites that Bullock [as a white, single female] will not be able to raise Louis be able to deal with society, who is clearly against the Black male. But isn't it better for her to raise him than for him to age out of the cruel foster-care system?

For years, we've seen celebrities toting around the "token Black child" in designer clothes. At one point, I saw it as a trend. But what about the middle and upper-middle class white couple looking for a chocolate baby to call their own? We would be dead wrong to say their intentions are wrong and that they shouldn't adopt children of color. Actually, I applaud them. While they may not be able to deal with issues that a Black child may face (i.e. racial comments from white school-mates, identity issues, stereotypes, hair) they have their hearts in the right place, providing a brighter futures for these children.

Now what about the Black folks? Are there any Black couples stepping up to the plate? The answer is a definite yes, but at what rates? While I was reading the June 2010 issue of Ebony magazine (the one with Niecy Nash on the cover) there was an article highlighting adoption [The Chosen Ones p. 68 by Corynne L. Corbett]. According to one private adoption agency, only one third of adoptions are by Black familes. The article also notes that, in major U.S. cities, the percentage of Black chilredn in foster-care can be up to 90%. NINETY PERCENT.

And that's in the United States.

Children overseas, while it may not be someones first choice, needs to be adopted, too. After the earthquakes shook Haiti, thousands of children were left parent-less. And who hopped on a plane to pick up one, two and even three children to call their own?

Please don't get me wrong. I'm ot saying that Whites should not adopt Black children. Nor am I saying that Blacks don't adopt. What I am saying is that instead of complaining that White couples always have a Black or Asian baby with them, step up.

I've never seen a Black person with a White child. And I'm sure we all know why. As Rev. Al Sharpton once said, " Jim Crow is no longer around. Instead we have his son James Crow II, Esquire." But that's a whole new topic.

I hope that people will be more open-minded and consider adopting and those that already did, will spread the word.