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BLACK HISTORY MONTH FEBRUARY 2020 MODELS & QUOTES FROM Allegra Abrams Dequadray White James McKnight Kaitlynne Roling INTRODUCTION & INTERVIEWS Ashleigh Perry LAYOUT & DESIGN Katie Herrick PHOTOGRAPHY Annika Ide Zack Kielar CREATIVE DIRECTION Ashleigh Perry Katie Herrick

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To be Black means different things to different people. It is a gift bestowed upon the strong, the bold, the beautiful. To be Black means to navigate a world that exists to tear you down. Blackness is knowing your worth, though you will rarely hear it reaffirmed from the mouths of others.

Sometimes your Black skin will seem as smooth as cocoa butter and honey, but a lot of the time it will be thorny to the touch, unfortunately, so that it is hard to accept its inherent beauty. This double-edged sword of warmth contrasted with hatred and doubt is a birthright to many Black people.

It is not because we don’t know our beauty, the strength of ourselves and our ancestors or the power that we have held since the dawn of time, it is because you can only be held to a white standard that you will inevitably fail so many times before seeds of doubt begin to bloom.

February is a time for the world to revel in Blackness, or at least that is the intent.

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Moda has decided that it is necessary to celebrate Black beauty not only in February—the shortest month of the year relegated to tell a history so immense that it would take years to fully encapsulate—but every day. This zine visually captures the images and words of Blackness in a very raw form. The people we spoke to posed the way that made them feel beautiful and spoke the words that felt organic to them.

It was our intent to tell a Black story that was unedited. Blackness rarely has a time to be itself. Of all the conversations that I had with people for this project, the one resounding note was that for them and me alike, Black History is not a month—it is a feeling.

It is feelings of joy, acceptance and peace that needs to be held high throughout one’s life, not just for the 28 days in February—29 if we’re lucky. I encourage you to enjoy these photos and these words not only now, but to carry the feeling you have when you close this zine onwards for the rest of your life.

So, what does Black History mean to you?

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KAITLYNNE ROLING SHE/HER/HERS

Black history month to me, means a celebration of the past, present and the future. Celebrating the joy and triumphs while also celebrating the struggles and efforts that people have put in to get us where we are today.

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Black history is happening all around us as we speak right now.

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JAMES MCKNIGHT HE/HIM/HIS

People should embody it more, it’s not as recognized as it should be. Bad things have happened and they need to be recognized and reflected on.

Everyone as a society has grown in a sense and there are still issues, but it is definitely getting better for civil rights.

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“I KNOW IT’S JUST ONE MONTH DEDICATED TO IT, BUT IT’S ALL THE TIME FOR US.” 12 MODA 11 BLACK

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DEQUADRAY WHITE HE/HIM/HIS

It’s not only a month for me, it’s a day-to-day of what I’m grateful for when it comes to my ancestry, because it does play a part in who I am as a person and how I move through this world. I constantly practice gratitude to those who have come before me and given me a path to take. For me, black history month is a socially created event that highlights our history for a certain amount of time but I know that I will continue to highlight my history continuously throughout my life, every day.

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“I may have been in a place where I’ve had to go through more than you, and I have had to see more than you, and I am right in being as angry as I want to be. But for me right now, I need to take the time to understand how I want to move forward without that constantly being an issue of your privilege and ignorance.”

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ALLEGRA ABRAMS SHE/HER/HERS

You’re always celebrating black history, black history is not just a month, but really focusing on remembering the past and the work that still needs to be done. Representation really matters. Highlighting black history for a month helps inspire others.

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“A lot of times you think that black people aren’t in these spaces, but they really are and they need to be empowered and highlighted.”

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