photo by steed media service

After being told she was ugly because of her skin color at the age of 4, three simple words from her mother re-established Najoh Tita-Reid’s concept of how beautiful she was: black is beautiful. That thought in mind, she’s been able to use her own story and business acumen to launch Procter & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful campaign. Tita-Reid is dedicated to ensuring that My Black is Beautiful provides an outlet for black women to define and celebrate their beauty.

Tita-Reid says consumers can expect to see a concerted effort in how Procter & Gamble chooses to present black women. “The notion of My Black is Beautiful is more than a campaign; it’s a movement … We want to change the way companies like ours reflect African American women. We want to show [that] we really take our responsibility seriously,” she says, adding that introducing CoverGirl Queen Latifah and the CoverGirl Queen Collection was pivotal in highlighting the range of beauty black women represent.

“The work that we’ve done to ensure that Queen Latifah was a CoverGirl was extremely conscientious,” notes Tita-Reid. “Queen Latifah [being] a CoverGirl is exactly what My Black is Beautiful is [about]; her beauty is phenomenal, but she’s not your stereotypical cover girl.”

Portraying black women of all sizes and hues as beautiful is the message that Tita-Reid says her company wants to convey. “[African American women now know] that what they define as beautiful, a company like Procter & Gamble can also reaffirm, and show that someone like Queen Latifah is, in fact, a cover girl.” -cherice e. norman

For more information, log onto www.myblackisbeautiful.com.

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