“Bethann Hardison has been my collaborator, my closest friend, we've gone through starting businesses, losing businesses, kids, divorces, marriages, and she was my maid of honor when I married my husband, David Bowie. And she's still such a part of my life. This is the person when it's totally dark, outside and inside, this is the person I would call.” PersonsHas BeensStillsKidsDarkGoneHonorHusbandMarriedLosingStartingDivorceMy HusbandClosestMaidsCollaboratorsBowieStarting A BusinessClosest FriendsMaid Of Honor Author:Iman Abdulmajid
“I'd only started noticing that something had gone wrong when I got a call from Naomi [Campbell], she called me and said, "You gotta do something about it, it's really bad, they're not using any models of color."” SaidGoneColorModelsNoticing Author:Bethann Hardison
“A friend of mine, Kim Hastreiter, who owns Paper Magazine, she told me, "When you left, it really changed things and you need to do something." So with the encouragement of others, I stayed around and watched, and I saw that all the girls before, such an enormous group of girls of color, all shades, it began to disappear.” NeedsGirlLeftSawsGroupsChangedMinesColorPaperEncouragementDisappearEnormousMagazinesShadeKim Author:Bethann Hardison
“I was the first person that had been so kind to Iman Abdulmajid. As time went on, and she became successful, signed with an agency, when she had to make big decisions, she wouldn't always talk to an agent, she'd ask me. I'd give her good advice and she'd be on her way. When I had ideas to do things like the Black Girls Coalition, I would always talk to her, she always loved my ideas. She trusts me.” WayGivingFirstsKindPersonsIdeasBigsGirlAsksBlackDecisionSuccessfulAdviceAgentsAsk MeAgencyTrust MeFirst PersonGood AdviceCoalitionsBlack GirlImanBig Decisions Author:Bethann Hardison
“I will say nothing to an actor that cannot be translated into action.” ActionActors Author:Elia Kazan
“That to be an activist, you have to stay active. For me, it's profound; it's not something you choose to do every five years because it's chic to say it.” YearsFiveProfoundActiveFive YearsActivistYou ChooseChic Author:Iman Abdulmajid
“If you are an activist, you have to stay active on a daily basis.” IfsBasesActiveActivist Author:Iman Abdulmajid
“The relationship I have with Bethann [Hardison], it's so unique. It's based on trust. But most importantly, Bethann is the one who will call on me if I'm doing something wrong. That's a very specific relationship.” IfsUnique Author:Iman Abdulmajid
“I came from a background where I was very poor growing up but I have never known poverty. My parents worked hard and they went to bed hungry, but they fed us. Then my father became an ambassador, so I ended up being driven by chauffeurs. And then we became refugees. After that, I looked at it through this "glass" of to have and have not, and at the end of the day, who actually helps, who actually steps up, who is there for you.” EndsHardHelpingFatherParentPoorKnownStepsPovertyGrowing UpGrowingBedGlassesDrivenHungryBackgroundsThe End Of The DayFedsRefugeeStep UpAmbassadorsAnd At The End Of The DayChauffeurs Author:Iman Abdulmajid
“Men can get jobs from one country to another, they can get in. But the people who always fell through the cracks were women and children, especially when you are displaced. I've always said, 'I am the face of a refugee.'” PeopleMenChildrenSaidCountryJobsFacesCracksRefugee Author:Iman Abdulmajid