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Force of Beauty

By: Mikki Taylor, Deborah Riley Draper
Narrated by: Mikki Taylor
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Publisher's summary

My family. My Newark.

The story of three generations of Black women, one extraordinary friendship, and a not-often recalled history of the city that made them.

In Force of Beauty, Mikki Taylor, editor-at-large of Essence magazine and longtime activist, introduces us to her gifted grandmother, Bessie, her glamorous mother, Modina, and how Modina’s friendship with the legendary Sarah Vaughan shaped Mikki’s childhood. Taylor’s mini-memoir is a tribute to Newark in the '50s and '60s, of cool jazz clubs and close-knit neighborhoods, a handsome house on Avon Avenue, and one family’s tale of perseverance and ingenuity in a city they all loved.

At a time when Black women were marginalized, disrespected, overlooked, and unseen, Bessie and Modina showed Mikki how beauty and style can be a force for good.

The recording includes an introduction by Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and a reading by Mayor Baraka of the poem his father, the esteemed Amiri Baraka, wrote about the Newark rebellion, which Taylor discusses living through as a young girl.

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC.
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About the Co-creator and Performer

Mikki Taylor is the leading authority on inner and outer beauty for women of color. A compelling empowerment speaker, Taylor emboldens women to own their lives, celebrate their beauty, and master their purpose with distinction. She has authored several books including the critically acclaimed Self-Seduction: Your Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty, Commander-in-Chic: Every Woman’s Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady, and Editor in Chic: How to Style and Be Your Most Empowered Self.
As the former beauty & cover director at ESSENCE magazine, Taylor produced over 500 covers as well as its signature beauty pages to affirm and inspire the culture’s definition of beauty. Today she serves as the publication’s editor-at-large, hosting its live events such as the ESSENCE Festival’s Power Stage and Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey. Taylor has worked with some of the world’s most fascinating and influential people including Rosa Parks, Sidney Poitier, Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and more. Among Taylor's most treasured experiences was the joy of serving as an instructor at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa at the special invitation of Oprah Winfrey, receiving the 2016 Black Women in Film Network Creative Award, speaking at the 2018 De Beers Global Women’s Summit in Botswana on consumer engagement, and receiving the National Urban League Trailblazer Award in July 2019.

About the Co-creator

Deborah Riley Draper is an award-winning filmmaker and storyteller. Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Draper brings a unique perspective to her work forged from her academic studies at Florida State University, her breakthrough ad campaigns as an executive with BBDO and Ogilvy, and her experience as a curious filmmaker who loves research. Draper is a 2016 Film Independent Lab Fellow and Variety Magazine’s 2016 Top 10 Documakers to Watch. Her documentary, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, tells the untold story of 18 African Americans who defied Hitler and Jim Crow to compete in the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games. Olympic Pride, American Prejudice is a 2017 NAACP Image Awards Nominee for Outstanding Documentary Film and one of only three nominees for the 2017 Peace and Sport Award in Monaco, presented by HRH Prince Albert. Draper was also nominated for the 2021 NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literary Work for her debut as an author, the book Olympic Pride, American Prejudice. Draper’s first partnership with Mikki Taylor, the film Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution, opened New York Fashion Week and Toronto Fashion Week in 2012.

Force of Beauty: A Newark Family Memoir trailer

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