'Black Beauty Model Agency', Desta Hailé
Listen to writer, vocalist and educator, Desta Hailé read an excerpt from her forthcoming publication Black Beauty Model Agency. Tracing the history of the agency, Hailé uncovers those who fought for the first black models to be recognised.
In the series Grace Jones: Musings, we listen out for contemporary literary and academic voices that rehearse, record, and resound Jones’ contributions to black and queer imaginaries, looking at the role of music and performance in creating communities of affect and resilience.
Desta Hailé is a writer, vocalist and educator. She is the Creative Director of Languages through Music and co-founder of Sisters Only Language Summit. Hailé is the author of York to Teheran (2020), which won the 2020 To Speak Europe in Different Languages prize, and the upcoming publication Black Beauty Model Agency (2021).