After leading with Maya Angelou, I racked my brain for my next black Shero for this series. I’ve been thinking about doing this for a while so I actually have a reserve of quite of few photos in my inspiration folder. I’m going to be continuing this past black history month and women’s history month. Some will be tied to the civil rights movement, some will be tied to Hollywood and pop culture. Some will kick down doors forcefully and some will create a tidal wave of change, solely for being themselves — a brown girl on celluloid.

photo by Sonia Moskowitz

Today, I’m honoring Diana Ross. Oscar noms, Grammys, Lifetime Achievement awards, two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Kennedy Center honors, The Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest honor that the prez can give an American civilian), 18 number one hits and album sales that make her the most successful female artist in history according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Wow!

As a kid I was mesmerized by her in The Wiz — I’m sorry Judy Garland but Ms. Ross was definitely doing it for the culture. She helped build Motown and remains a force in pop culture. The kind of woman that performs her own tribute and brings her whole family on stage, the kind of woman who can loose her fanny pack, tweet about it and it’s returned unharmed to her. You have to respect Ms. Ross.

She’s a life force and energy and some of my favorite photos of her were capture of her dancing, one night at Studio 54 in the late 70s. She is a dynamic life force and I hope to embody that.

shot at Simon Hotel in Fort-de-France, Martinique