The Rise of Black Cool and Black Glamour

The beautiful woman with the hourglass figure gracing the cover of author Nichelle Gainer’s book “Vintage Black Glamour” is actress/singer Eartha Kitt.

Beautiful and talented, the late great Eartha Kitt

So don’t let anyone tell you that black people didn’t have a middle class or wealth during segregation and during the swinging 60s, because there are a number of photos and writings that prove otherwise. From Madame C J Walker, to sports heroes, educators, inventors, businessmen and businesswomen and entertainers, African Americans resided in a variety of socio-economic lifestyles.

We were, and still are, not a monolithic group. Whether through education or ambition, undeniable talent or heart stopping beauty, blacks back in the day became successful in spite of obstacles like inequality.

The book Vintage Black Glamour can be purchased on Amazon

Brief bio on Eartha Kitt from The Guardian.com:

” ‘Once called the “most exciting woman in the world” by Orson Welles, Kitt became a singer and dancer whose suggestive and sensuous performances captured the public imagination in the 1950s. Her former lover Charles Revson, the billionaire founder of Revlon cosmetics, even created a lipstick for her, calling it Fire and Ice. In the 1960s she made the role of Catwoman her own when she became the first black woman to achieve mainstream TV success in America with Batman, even breaking racial taboos by flirting on screen with Adam West in the lead role.’ ” – Adam Luck

Read more about Eartha Kitt here

Additional examples of black cool and glamour: