Jody Watley, Harper’s Bazaar 10 Most Beautiful Issue (Women from 21 to 48 Talk About Their Looks and Lives), September 1989

I was in great company as the ‘The Top 10’ list also featured Academy Award winning actress Jodie Foster on the cover, other inclusions were Faye Dunaway, Whitney Houston, Susan Sarandon, Kelly LeBrock, Julia Roberts, Melanie Griffith, and Anjelica Houston.

Clothing – Rifat Ozbek

Photography Matthew Rolston

For me – though having a strong visual presentation and identity as an artist is important – your looks never define who you are as a person nor have anything to do with substance, character, talent, tenacity and perseverance. One must have something going on beyond what’s on the outside. Over the decades I’ve found in some ways with women physical appearance when others consider you ‘beautiful’ can work against you too, you almost have to work double to be taken seriously not to mention those that may resent what they see and some to their own personal biases, misperceptions and so on – it’s a double edged sword. That said, looking back it’s special to have broken through some of the barriers that often exist for black women and artists in the lexicon of beauty and fashion opening the door a bit wider for others that have followed. This was my second of 3 features in Harper’s Bazaar.

No matter what – don’t forget to be awesome not matter what you look like!

Wattage!