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Race & Ethnicity

Model tearfully expresses need for Black makeup artists after photoshoot disaster

"You guys knew what I looked like before I came, so rude. Why am I at Sephora doing my own makeup?"

Megan Milan|TikTok

Model tearfully expresses need for Black makeup artist

Modeling isn't always as glamorous as it looks.

Sure you get to wear fun clothes, have crazy stuff done to your hair and get paid for having people take pictures of you. But on the flip side, you have multiple people critiquing your body and how clothes fit you to your face. Gaining or losing a few pounds can be a contract breaker leaving you looking for work.

Some models have an extra layer to worry about when it comes to landing the right jobs - makeup. Megan Milan recently shared her experience during New York Fashion Week, a high profile week of fashion shows where celebrities flock to get first looks at designer collections. The model was getting ready for a photoshoot before a show later that night when the makeup artist didn't have the correct shade of makeup.

Milan is a dark skinned Black woman and the shade of makeup used appears to be for someone about 15 shades lighter. When she saw the results, the runway model left the chair to find the closest Sephora.

Milan shared the video of her makeup disaster on TikTok where it amassed over 13.7 million views and over 1 million likes. In the caption of the video she wrote, "I normally bring my own foundation just incase but i let my guard down. Plus i didnt want to carry a makeup bag all day, this was my first job of the day 😭. I had to go ti[sic] Sephora, do my own makeup then come back."

By the time she started talking to the Sephora employee, Milan starts to cry saying, "if you don't know how to do Black girls makeup why would you even...you guys knew what I looked like before I came."

Lack of representation in hairstylists and makeup artists has been a problem for decades. Celebrities from Cicely Tyson to Gabrielle Union have expressed frustration around industry hair and makeup artists not having the right shades or not knowing how to work with kinky hair. Sadly this trend has continued and Milan is the latest Black person on the receiving end of the lack of diversity amongst makeup artists.

Thankfully for Milan, the employees at Sephora corrected the mess. The head of makeup in the store personally made sure the model was camera ready and the shoot turned out beautiful.

You can watch the full video below:

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Family

Mom makes ‘Toy Story’ doll hearing aids out of nail acrylic to match her son’s

Woody has never looked so dapper.

The Columbus Dispatch|Facebook

Mom gives 'Toy Story' doll hearing aids to match her son's.

Representation is something you don't even think about if you've always had it, which can make the need for representation feel unnecessary to some. But kids look for themselves in their television shows, dolls and neighborhood, and seeing people who look like them or have other similarities is vital to their confidence and imagination.

Seeing themselves represented helps kids feel connected to the world around them, so many parents attempt to do whatever they can in order to provide their children with the representation they need. Mom Wendy Wuu took it upon herself to make sure her 5-year-old son saw a part of himself in his favorite doll, Woody, from "Toy Story."

In a video uploaded to social media, you can see the mom molding something clear and malleable into Woody's ear. Turns out this creative mom was using fingernail acrylic to mold the shape of the doll's inner ear...well as much of an inner ear as a doll can have.

Shortly after molding the inner ear, she double-checked her son's hearing aids, then proceeded to mold the part that goes around the ear. The process is quite fascinating. She painted the hearing aids to match Woody's outfit, complete with cow print and blue paint.

"I wanted my child to feel included," says Wuu told USA Today. “We never see other children or people with hearing aids or cochlear implants in our community."

The viral video has racked on over 10 million views on The Columbus Dispatch's Facebook page, with commenters praising the mom's determination and skill.

"What an amazing momma," one person writes.

"This is the sweetest thing. Moms will do literally anything for their babies. I want to hug her," another commenter says.

Watch Wuu create Woody's hearing aids below:

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Identity

The Tony Awards touted diversity, but here's how the ceremony can do even better going forward

They've come a long way, but there's much more that needs to change.

Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash

Radio City Music Hall is the home of the Tony Awards.

The 2022 Tony Awards was billed as one of the most diverse Tony Awards in history. And that’s not totally untrue. The show saw its first nonbinary winner, “Six: The Musical” writer Toby Marlow. Additionally, there were seven plays written by Black playwrights during this Broadway season, a fact that host Ariana DeBose pointed out in her opening number/monologue. She quipped that it was nice to see that “‘The Great White Way’ is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide.”

And this year was absolutely a benchmark year when it comes to Black representation at the Tonys. As someone who is an avid theater fan (the Tonys are to me what the Oscars are to film people), I love watching the beauty and spectacle of the show. But as a Black woman, I am always aware of the conversations around diversity. They’re incredibly important conversations to be having, and while the Tonys used much of DeBose’s opening monologue to proclaim how diverse Broadway currently is, most of the winners didn’t reflect the sudden push for diversity, more specifically, Black creators and performers.

In the categories of Best Play, Best Director of a Play and Best Featured Actress in a Musical, there were multiple Black nominees, including Black women, but all of the winners were white. Not only white, but white people who have already won before and are critically acclaimed. For most of the show, it would be Black nominee multiple times over a category, only to have a white winner. Watching the show unfold became increasingly more frustrating.

After the national protests and conversations about race in 2020, a group of theater performers and other creatives, including Viola Davis, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sandra Oh, wrote an open letter, “Dear White American Theater.”

“We see you. We have always seen you. We have watched you pretend not to see us,” the letter reads.

“We have watched you program play after play, written, directed, cast, choreographed, designed, acted, dramaturged, and produced by your rosters of white theatermakers for white audiences, while relegating a token, if any, slot for a BIPOC play. We see you.”

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black & Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”

One of the biggest issues with diversity on Broadway, at the Tonys or otherwise, is that the people in positions of power are still largely white. Take, for example, the new Broadway musical “A Strange Loop.” It has garnered a lot of buzz since it opened, and it picked up Tonys for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical. When the show won Best Musical, the award was accepted by its white female producer (Barbara Whitman) along with its Black writer (Michael R. Jackson), despite its performance being presented by Black producers RuPaul Charles and Jennifer Hudson earlier in the broadcast. (Fun fact: Being a producer of the musical scored Hudson an EGOT, making her the second Black woman, and youngest winner overall.)

Clearly, Black producers exist, but they are not the lead producers, and as we know, the lead producers are the ones who become the face of the show in certain aspects. I’m not saying that white producers shouldn’t exist, but to create a more diverse playing field, they should be partnering with BIPOC producers, especially when the show is about a marginalized group. It may not seem like a big deal, but optics really do make it a big deal. It would have been way more impactful to the conversation to see all those Black faces on stage and have a Black person making the speech.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the Tony’s, steering committee members of the Asian American Performers Action Coalition Christine Toy Johnson and Pun Bandhu talked about diversity on Broadway—the strides that have been made and areas that still fall short. The Asian American Performers Action Coalition is a group of AAPI theater folks who for the last 10 years have worked to increase opportunities for mainly Asian and Asian American creatives, but also to helping BIPOC communities as well.

Bandhu pointed out that over the years, there’s this swinging pendulum when it comes to representation. He refers to it as a “scarcity model,” where only one marginalized group can be having success at any given time. For example, after Lin-Manuel Miranda’s first Broadway hit “In the Heights” opened and won Tonys in 2009, there was a boost in interest surrounding Latino representation. After a show like “The Color Purple,” a boost in telling Black stories. He also added that the amount of diversity on Broadway never “went above 20 percent for marginalized and underrepresented groups from year to year over the course of 10 years.”

“"A Strange Loop is a story that centers the queer Black experience in the Broadway space which very well hits a chord when it comes to the creative process and navigating the world while being queer -- specifically Black and queer." @DinoRay https://t.co/IYqVu0bzwm”

“Thinking that there’s only so much ground that can be given to marginalized groups … leads to this oppression Olympics, a system by which the power structure benefits from having all the marginalized groups competing against each other. What our statistics help to prove is that it’s a larger problem that has to do with centering white narratives and artists at the expense of all else,” Bandhu explained.

While this year was a record year for Black representation on Broadway, that meant that other marginalized racial groups got little to no recognition at all. There were only two Asian nominees this year, for lighting design. And while wins for either of them would have been historic, where is the visible Asian representation?

“I think that there’s been this ongoing myth about [AAPI talent] not existing, which is why we’re not represented,” Johnson told The Hollywood Reporter.

In a 2016 Forbes article, writer Lee Seymour stated that only 12 people of Asian descent have won a Tony—three producers have won more than once. David Henry Hwang was the first—and only—Asian American to win best play, back in 1988.

This is the perfect example of the “scarcity model,” and it feels ridiculous that it’s still a thing in 2022. But again, that leads to my earlier point of having marginalized producers. They will be more diligent about seeking out marginalized creators, actors and others. You have to have equity at the top to have equity at the bottom.

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How 'Black Panther' changed everything for Sandra Bullock and her kids.

As a Hollywood A-lister who's been in the film industry for years, you'd think Sandra Bullock would be unflappable. But there's still something that can bring her to tears — "Black Panther."

Bullock couldn’t help but rave about the film when she met the cast backstage at the Academy Awards on March 4.

“I started to cry backstage when I was telling [the cast of “Black Panther”] how much the film meant to me as a woman, but how much it meant to me as a mother,” Bullock said in a red carpet interview with "Access Hollywood."

Left: Sandra Bullock photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images. Right: Lupita Nyong'o (L) and Danai Gurira. Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images.

Bullock is the mother of two black children, Louis, 8, and Laila, 5, through adoption. The movie’s all-black cast, dynamic female characters, and Afro-futuristic setting are a refreshing change of pace for adult filmgoers. But for children, particularly children of color, seeing a black king, and the intelligent, fierce black women leaders is downright inspiring.

Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP/Getty Images.

And for children of color this type of visibility is long overdue.

Children of color are still underrepresented when it comes to toys, books, TV shows, apps, and games. Finding entertainment options with visible, dynamic, leading characters of color requires a little extra time, patience, or in some cases, getting creative.

But with the success of films like “Black Panther” there is a glimmer of hope.

The film is already breaking records at the box office, earning more than $500 million domestically since its release 18 days ago.

Now, industry insiders suggest "Black Panther" could make nearly $250 million in merchandise sales this year alone. With masks, action figures, clothes, Lego, and even a car, Bullock and other parents of children of color will finally get the opportunity to celebrate and support a hero of color on the big screen.

Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images.

It’s a moment many thought would never come.

Parents, including Bullock, are rejoicing.

“I don’t have to turn [the Lego] brown anymore,” Bullock said.

Happy tears, indeed.

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The trailer for 'Wakanda Forever' dropped and people feeling things - Upworthy ›

'Star Wars' fans are using this hashtag to ask Disney to do better.

Yes. Even in a galaxy far, far, away, representation matters.

"Star Wars" is more than a film franchise. It is a galaxy full of stories, heroism, and adventure.

For many fans, their love of the film stretches beyond a few hours on the silver screen. It's a true community, a lifestyle, even a family tradition. "Star Wars" is a way of life.

"Star Wars" fans attend "Star Wars" night at a baseball game. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.

That's why fans around the globe are telling Disney to show up for characters from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

Fans of all ages are sharing why diversity, inclusion, and representation matter — even in a galaxy far, far away — with the hashtag, #SWRepMatters.

Because everyone from the young...

...to the young at heart, everyone deserves to see themselves in the media they consume.

"Star Wars" has an entire galaxy to draw from. Is it too much to ask to include more women, particularly women of color? And once they're there, perhaps let them talk to one another? No. No it's not.

(Regarding the above exchange, fans managed to come up with two more, but six brief moments in nine films is still abysmal.)

It must be said that the "Star Wars" literature and comics have made a point to include women of color as heroes and protagonists, but the reach of the films is far beyond that of the books. Give us three-dimensional characters with arcs, backstories, and challenges to overcome.

Because while diversity in the films has improved, it's still lightyears behind where it should be.

And not just on screen, but behind the camera, too, in writers rooms and other high-profile creative positions. There's lots of talk among fans about the mere possibility of Ava DuVernay directing a film. And while she is amazing, she's not the only woman of color making moves.

Because this is about more than lore and entertainment, it's about dollars and good sense.

In addition to being beloved by fans around the globe, "Star Wars" is one of the best-performing film franchises of all time.

The European Premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" at the Royal Albert Hall. Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney.

As of spring 2017, ahead of the latest release, the franchise had grossed over $7.5 Billion dollars worldwide in box office receipts alone. This doesn't include auxiliary merchandise like T-shirts, books, household goods, or collectibles. One research group estimated "Star Wars" toy sales totaled nearly $760 million. So this is more than a film or simply entertainment, this is a true economic powerhouse.

As our population shifts and demographics change, it would be economically prudent to represent and include leading characters from as many backgrounds as possible. And with an entire galaxy of material to mine from and create, the opportunities are endless.

So before you next step back in time to a galaxy far, far, away, consider who you see and who you don't.

Watch who gets to speak and who doesn't. Who gets to have an emotional arc and who lives and dies in the background. And if you're not satisfied with everything you see and hear, be a "force" for good and raise your voice.

Photo by Miguel Schincariol/AFP/Getty Images.

7 experts who are taking over tech and challenging racism and sexism in the field.

When James Damore sent his inaccurate and problematic memo on diversity in the workplace, the internet, tech experts, and the general world responded with justified frustration.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

The former Google software engineer wrote a 10-page anti-diversity memo in which he claimed the gender gap in tech is due to biological differences between men and women, rather than discrimination. And, while Damore did not directly ascribe to a political party, he compared being conservative today to being gay in the 1950s.

Damore's comments echoed what staffers of color and women in a variety of STEM-focused careers have heard repeatedly in predominantly white offices and schools: They don't belong here.

Still, they continue to prove naysayers wrong through their hard work, dedication, and brilliance.

Simply look at a tech conference, the launch of a millennial-focused website, or a new startup initiative to find women and people of color changing the face of tech in innovative and influential ways — in spite of working with and often being educated by people like Damore.

Here are seven badass people of color changing the game for minority groups in tech.

1. Tristan Walker, founder and CEO of Walker & Company Brands, Inc. and CODE2040

Tristan Walker speaks at TechCrunch. Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch.

Walker & Company Brands, Inc., is a grooming products company for African-Americans, and CODE2040 is an organization dedicated to providing tech pathways in the innovation economy for black and Latinx people. Through these ventures, Walker has used his business and tech savviness to create businesses and organizations by and for people of color.

Walker often speaks at conferences to discuss the importance of teaching tech in schools and communities of color, and he advocates for increasing the number of women and people of color in tech.

2. Ruzwana Bashir, founder and CEO of Peek.com

After graduating from Oxford and Harvard Business School, Ruzwana Bashir worked in investment banking before creating Peek, an online platform for vacation planning. The U.K. native of Pakistani descent has had profound influence in the tech industry, and she's used her voice to speak out against sexual assault and abuse.

Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival.

3. Khalia Braswell, UI/UX designer at Apple and founder of INTechCamp

According to a report from National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), black women only hold 3% of computing jobs. Khalia Braswell is one of the many faces in the competitive STEM field working to change this. The Apple UX designer founded INTech Camp in 2014, aiming to expose more girls of color to technology and to increase gender and racial representation in tech in future years.

"Being future ready means building relationships, remaining positive, and giving back to those that helped you along the way," Braswell said in a speech for NAF (formerly the National Academy Foundation). Braswell maintains an active social media presence and continues to work with young girls in her nonprofit.

4. Elaine Warren, founder of SurvivorPlan

The innovative technology veteran has worked with business and health care clients, such as Emory University and Veterans Health Administration, for 20 years to provide software solutions for their initiatives.

"I loved the creativity along with the structure, and I realized that software development was both a science and an art form," Warren told Redox. "I went on to study computer science in college and was hooked."

Warren earned her master's degree in computer science and is now the leader of Survivor Plan, a company that works to provide personalized solutions for cancer survivors, their clinicians, and their loved ones.

5. Evelyn Miralles, principal engineer and virtual reality innovator at NASA

Miralles is known as a a pioneer of virtual reality at NASA. Her career, spanning 25 years, has influenced women around the world. She is one of many Latina women who have paved the way for more opportunities for women and people of color in science and technology.

Miralles was on the BBC World 100 Women list, CNET's Top 20 Latinos in Technology list, and is a distinguished alumna of University of Houston Clear Lake.

6. Clennita Justice, senior engineering program manager at Google

Clennita Justice, a former Apple employee, has worked on a variety of projects at Google, including assisting with launching Google Play Books (formerly Google Books).

“I’m always doing something around my own personal development, and I’ve always thought of technology as a means for helping us be better people and have better lives, enjoy our lives, and increase our self-awareness,” Justice told Google Careers.

Justice now works in product strategy to manage an in-product tool designed to complete surveys to asses user satisfaction. She is also a member of Black Googles Network (BGN), an organization that serves as a resources for Black "Googlers" and allies.

7. Morgan DeBaun, co-founder and CEO of Blavity

Morgan DeBaun at TechCrunch. Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch.

Morgan DeBaun is the co-founder and CEO of Blavity, a website dedicated to black millennials. The Forbes 30 Under 30 alumna saw a need for a content space created by black people, so she left her job and used her tech skills and business knowledge to create a website that constantly produces viral, relevant content for her audience.

She has also worked to create spaces for black people and women in tech, including AfroTech, the largest black tech conference in Silicon Valley.

These seven are just a handful of examples of the numerous men and women of color innovating and changing the future of technology. It's imperative we continue creating opportunities for diversity in our elite school systems and the workplace.

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Capital One and Girls, Inc. teaching girls about STEM - Upworthy ›

'I wanted my Mexican father, with his thick Mexican accent, to experience what it was like to see a hero in a blockbuster film, speak the way he does.'

San Diego native and comic-book lover Perls finally got the chance to take her father to see "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" the Monday after New Year's.

While going to the movies with your dad can be great for a lot of reasons, Perls was particularly excited to share "Rogue One" with her dad because he's Mexican, just like Diego Luna, one of the movie's lead actors.

Diego Luna as Capt. Cassian Andor. Photo via Lucasfilm.

Latino and Hispanic actors are the least represented in film and television (only 5.8% had speaking roles according to a survey of more than 11,000 speaking characters in movies and TV), so it's a big deal for Luna to be featured so prominently in a blockbuster film franchise like "Star Wars."

He even got to keep his strong, Mexican accent in the role of Cassian Andor, further representing his culture on screen.

And if you don't understand why the accent matters ...

Perls wasn't sure if her dad was going to like "Rogue One," but when the movie was over, she knew Luna's presence in it had a significant effect on him.

She took to Tumblr to share the unforgettable experience, writing (emphasis mine):

Representation matters. Not just for the young, impressionable generations, but for the generations who saw very little of themselves reflected in media when they were growing up.

The post quickly went viral, eventually reaching Luna himself, who proudly shared it on Twitter.

Luna received hundreds of responses, many from Hispanics and Latinxs, thanking him for pushing representation forward in mainstream media.

Another Tumblr user was so inspired by Perls' story that he shared his own story about how seeing Riz Ahmed in "Rogue One" deeply moved him as an Indian man, writing:

Riz Ahmed as Bohdi Rook. Photo via Lucasfilm.

The "Rogue One" cast didn't just feature some token characters of color — the core team of heroes was almost entirely made up of people from minority groups.

As my colleague Carlos Foglia wrote on Upworthy:

This is definitely a step in the right direction for representation in movies and TV, and it's good for Hollywood's bottom line, too.

Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe. Photo via Lucasfilm.

Not only is diversity having a positive effect on audiences, it's increasing films' profit margins. According to a recent study by UCLA, films that have a 41-50% cast of color do better in the global marketplace. As the second-highest grossing film of 2016, "Rogue One" proves diversity isn't bad stateside either.

Of course, representation goes beyond race. Slowly but surely, we're seeing progress made across the board.

Women of all sizes (not just 0 and 2), the LGBTQ community, and people with disabilities all need lead characters they can look up to on a screen. There's a whole spectrum of stories out there that aren't being told.

Melissa McCarthy. Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images.

Actresses like Melissa McCarthy are snagging starring roles (andmaking bank). "Speechless," a primetime show, features a character with cerebral palsy played by an actor with cerebral palsy. More and more LGBTQ relationships are popping up on television, like Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer on the CW's "Supergirl" and Darryl Whitefeather's bisexual revelation on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."

It's important for everyone to see that the spectrum of representation is widening. We can only move forward by looking back and seeing how far we've come.

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We have a small favor to ask of you

representation matters

"You guys knew what I looked like before I came, so rude. Why am I at Sephora doing my own makeup?"

Woody has never looked so dapper.

They've come a long way, but there's much more that needs to change.

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black &amp; Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”

“"A Strange Loop is a story that centers the queer Black experience in the Broadway space which very well hits a chord when it comes to the creative process and navigating the world while being queer -- specifically Black and queer." @DinoRay https://t.co/IYqVu0bzwm”

As a Hollywood A-lister who's been in the film industry for years, you'd think Sandra Bullock would be unflappable. But there's still something that can bring her to tears — "Black Panther."

And for children of color this type of visibility is long overdue.

But with the success of films like “Black Panther” there is a glimmer of hope.

It’s a moment many thought would never come.

Yes. Even in a galaxy far, far, away, representation matters.

"Star Wars" is more than a film franchise. It is a galaxy full of stories, heroism, and adventure.

That's why fans around the globe are telling Disney to show up for characters from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.

Because while diversity in the films has improved, it's still lightyears behind where it should be.

Because this is about more than lore and entertainment, it's about dollars and good sense.

So before you next step back in time to a galaxy far, far, away, consider who you see and who you don't.

Damore's comments echoed what staffers of color and women in a variety of STEM-focused careers have heard repeatedly in predominantly white offices and schools: They don't belong here.

1. Tristan Walker, founder and CEO of Walker & Company Brands, Inc. and CODE2040

2. Ruzwana Bashir, founder and CEO of Peek.com

3. Khalia Braswell, UI/UX designer at Apple and founder of INTechCamp

4. Elaine Warren, founder of SurvivorPlan

5. Evelyn Miralles, principal engineer and virtual reality innovator at NASA

6. Clennita Justice, senior engineering program manager at Google

7. Morgan DeBaun, co-founder and CEO of Blavity

'I wanted my Mexican father, with his thick Mexican accent, to experience what it was like to see a hero in a blockbuster film, speak the way he does.'

San Diego native and comic-book lover Perls finally got the chance to take her father to see "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" the Monday after New Year's.

Perls wasn't sure if her dad was going to like "Rogue One," but when the movie was over, she knew Luna's presence in it had a significant effect on him.

The post quickly went viral, eventually reaching Luna himself, who proudly shared it on Twitter.

The "Rogue One" cast didn't just feature some token characters of color — the core team of heroes was almost entirely made up of people from minority groups.

This is definitely a step in the right direction for representation in movies and TV, and it's good for Hollywood's bottom line, too.

Of course, representation goes beyond race. Slowly but surely, we're seeing progress made across the board.

““A Strange Loop”(@StrangeLoopBway) by Michael R. Jackson (@TheLivingMJ) bills itself as a “Big, Black & Queer-Ass American Musical.” Days before he and the show each won Tony Awards, Jackson talked to me about the spectacular show he spent 18 years writing https://t.co/vkf5S0MSSt”