Candace King Williams had a vision to bring together 100 beautiful, brown, bold women. Some, she says, who were never made to feel pretty, some who never got to experience true sisterhood and some who needed to have their accomplishments celebrated.
On Jan. 31, the vision came to life on a beautiful warm sunny day. The women gathered at 7:30 a.m. at the Paul Blakely Center for makeup and hair to prepare for the Beautiful, Brown, Bold (BBB) photo shoot. The first photo shoot was at Freedom Corner and the New Pittsburgh Courier was there. Williams said she wanted to make a bold statement that 100 Black women could gather without hate or jealousy to celebrate each other. When the BBB announcement was made, nearly 400 submissions poured in.
Williams said reading each submission was life changing. She found herself, laughing, crying, praying and cheering for women she had never met. She said the process was emotionally draining because after a while a theme developed— a theme of pain among our women. A theme of women raised by single parents or being single parents themselves. A theme of cancer. A theme of pain from gun violence. A theme of molestation and/or rape. A theme of teenage pregnancy. And what also developed were stories of triumph, resilience, loving again and stories of courage.
“One thing is for sure, after being surrounded by such love and support, I know that God led me to the right women for the project,” Williams said. The project was funded through love. The Hill House Association and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh sponsored the project with the building and student photographers. Transportation was provided by Terri Baltimore who believed in the project from the moment that Williams shared the vision. Williams said her assistant project manager, Danielle Jackson, played a major part in making the project happen. As did the 100 women who came together to make it work.
The plan is to present the photos and the stories to politicians, community leaders and supporters at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts in June. The hope for BBB will be that this under represented group will get the support and resources that they need and deserve.
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