Black Girls Rock!

By: Kathy Harris

Whoever said black isn’t beautiful must have lost their mind! Black is beautiful. Word to the media powers that be: beauty is not just blond hair and blue eyes. Beauty has so many faces, shapes and sizes that the American culture forgets due to the oversaturation of what perceived as “beauty.” America is a vain culture that will go to any extreme for so called “perfection,” however, the true meaning of beauty radiates through the spirit of the individual and not through standards that society has sets for us. Lucy Lomuro’s black is profoundly beautiful, but it took a lot of fight, inspiration and determination the for the 23-year-old, 5’10” Sudanese stunner to make her way through the unforgiving fashion industry. Throughout the journey, Lucy has managed to brush off her bouts with adversity and continues to stand strong.

“The worst thing I have ever heard was that I could not be a commercial model because I was too dark,” Lucy reflects. For this former war child of Sudan, such a comment was a low blow, but certainly not enough to stop her from going after her dreams of being a top model. Her journey to become a force in modeling resulted from seeing fellow Sudanese supermodel Alek Wek in a magazine and affirming to herself, “I can do that, I can be where she is.” Affirmations like this have not only influenced Lucy’s fire and passion for modeling, but other experiences have also encouraged her to use modeling as a platform to speak up for dark-skinned models and to bring attention to the war that’s happening in Sudan.

“You have to be thankful for what you have and work with it,” Lucy encourages. When beauty and brains meet, it is a truly honest collaboration. Ms. Lomuro is beautiful not only because of her deep, plum, licorice skin, enchanting eyes and endless legs; she is also beautiful because of her spirit, journey and the fact she has overcome numerous adversities she has faced in her life.

Simply stated, we should never give up on our dreams. Lucy Lomuro is the perfect example of an individual who has the ability to make hers realities regardless of the obstacles she endures along the way.