Black Women Honored As ‘Powerhouses’ In Their Industry At Inaugural NYFW Event

September 10, 2024
Black Enterprise spoke with some of the honorees at the Powerhouses celebratory event.
Black women remain dominant forces across multiple industries and are receiving their rightful flowers. Refinery29 recently honored some of these women in their “29 Powerhouses” list, which includes game-changers and makeup moguls.
These “29 Powerhouses” define the rules for themselves, championing diverse causes while remaining true to their passions, from art to sports and fashion. This year’s honorees featured Pat McGrath, legendary makeup artist and beauty brand founder; Angel Reese, record-breaking WNBA rookie; and Marsai Martin, a young actress-turned-producer.
Fellow honorees attended the celebratory event ahead of New York Fashion Week on Sept. 7. There, BLACK ENTERPRISE spoke with these public figures and what it means to be a “powerhouse” in their field.
“I think it’s really important because people have preconceived notions about you when you’re a woman in specific areas, like gaming and tech and fashion. People will presume, if you’re in fashion, that you might not know about the other areas, and same in gaming and tech,” explained Jay-Ann Lopez, founder of Black Girl Gamers and hair sculpture enthusiast. “So I like to show that a woman can be anything. I don’t like to put myself in a box, and I think that’s the most interesting thing you can do is to take yourself out that box and experience life as the person, the whole person that you are.”
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Justina Miles, a sign language performer for Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime show, also expressed her thoughts on the recognition. The Deaflympics athlete has garnered traction for her advocacy toward diverse people with disabilities.
“Yes, this is a great honor for me to continue on my track as authentic as I am. [Especially] as a Black, deaf woman, to know that nobody has to change who they are to be on this path of trailblazing for success, or just making life easier for others by being a role model, this is what that means to me. [It means] that I could just be authentically myself and be in the spaces that I deserve to be in.”
While part of the first-ever cohort of powerhouses championing self-expression, Miles and Lopez remain dedicated to expanding their impact. On Refinery29’s inclusion of these dynamic Black women, Chelsea Sanders also spoke about how these selections reflect our modern society.
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“29 Powerhouses is about making sure that what we’re doing isn’t necessarily diversity; it’s just the world that we live in right now, and that looks so amazing, and it is more of a diversity of ideas and a diversity of thoughts versus diversity, just in color or creed or orientation,” explained Sanders.
The full “29 Powerhouses” list can be found on Refinery29’s website.
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