🖤💚💛❤️BLACK TRAILBLAZERS: MODELING, TV & FILM, AND FASHION❤️💛💚🖤

SHONDA RHIMES Shonda Rhimes is a TV producer, screenwriter and author known for Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Bridgerton and Inventing Anna. Shonda grew up in a Chicago suburb. After graduating from Dartmouth in 1991, she initially had dreams of becoming a novelist but ultimately attended film school at the University of Southern California. In 1998 she wrote and directed the short film Blossoms and Veils. The following year she penned the HBO TV movie Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, starring Halle Berry as the singer and actress who was the first black woman to be nominated for a best actress Oscar. Shonda next wrote screenplays for the feature films Crossroads in 2002, a vehicle for pop singer Britney Spears, and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in 2004, a romantic comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. In 2015, Shonda published a memoir, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand in the Sun, and Be Your Own Person. Shondaland is the name of Shonda’s production company. She joined the national board of Planned Parenthood in 2017 and joined When We All Vote in 2019. Shonda was named by Time in their list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2007 and 2021. BEVERLY JOHNSON Beverly Johnson is a model, actress, singer and businesswoman. Johnson was the first African American model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in 1974 and French Elle in 1975. Her stunning face has been captured on more than 500 magazine covers from Cosmopolitan to Glamour, Essence, Ebony and more. Four decades of accomplishments mark her as a global influencer. Beverly Johnson’s unique voice and journey is documented as author and producer of many books and television series related to her Supermodel life. Beverly has written the books, “Beverly Johnson's Guide to a Life of Health and Beauty”, and “True Beauty: Secrets of Radiant Beauty for Women of Every Age and Color”. Her most notable and personal testament is imparted in her 2015 memoir, “The Face That Changed It All”, a New York Times Best Seller. She has also acted in films such as Ashanti, The Meteor Man, Def Jam's How to Be a Player, and Crossroads. The New York Times named Beverly one of the 20th century’s most influential people in fashion in 2008. Devoted to sharing her luxury taste with her audience, Beverly Johnson Luxury Lifestyle Brand is dedicated to present the finest of beauty, health, fashion, home and lifestyle. VIRGIL ABLOH Virgil Abloh was a fashion designer, entrepreneur and trained architect. Though he did not formally study fashion, he studied civil engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received a master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. His mother was a seamstress, and she taught him the basics of her trade. When he was 22 years old, Virgil met Kanye West. That relationship set him on the road to Paris and in 2009 Kanye signed a deal for a sneaker collaboration with Louis Vuitton, and he and his creative team, including Virgil, headed off for fashion week and became the talk of the season. Virgil became the Artistic Director for Louis Vuitton from 2018-2021. Virgil was also the CEO of the Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2013. In 2020, he established the Virgil Abloh "Post-Modern" Scholarship Fund”. Virgil raised $1 million for the scholarships which will be managed by the Fashion Scholarship Fund to assist Black students. In July 2020, Virgil's brand Off-White launched a fundraising program called "I Support Young Black Businesses" that sold hoodies and t-Shirts with “I Support Young Black Businesses” written on them. All of those proceeds went to an organization called Chicago CRED, aimed to diminish gun violence. Also, that year, he finished the redesign and renovations of the Boys and Girls Club facility in East Garfield Park, Chicago with Nike. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018. Virgil passed away from cancer in November of 2021. He is survived by his wife Shannon Abloh, his children Lowe Abloh and Grey Abloh, his sister Edwina Abloh, his parents — and a legacy he identified during his first Louis Vuitton show, held in the gardens of the Palais Royale in front of an audience that included Kanye West, Rihanna and ASAP Rocky, as well as 1,500 students.