Michaela Angela Davis is a writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture in the United States. She is also a fashion expert and an "image activist."
Early life
Michaela Angela Davis was born on March 31, 1964, in Landshut, Germany, and raised in Washington, D.C. She is the daughter of Harold Edward Gregory Davis and Helen Jean Butler.[1] Her mother was convinced that her next child would be a boy and, after visiting the Sistine Chapel during her pregnancy, decided to name him Michael Angelo. When Davis was born, her mother gave her the female version of the name, Michaela Angela.[2] Davis has two sisters, Debbie and Monica, and a brother, Eddie.[1]
After completing her studies, Davis went to work in 1991 for Essence as an associate fashion editor.[4] Her first assignment was the styling of Anita Hill in preparation for her testimony before Congress for the nomination hearings of Clarence Thomas as a Supreme Court justice.[2]
Davis became the associate fashion, culture and the executive fashion and beauty editor for Essence magazine.[5] She was the founding fashion director for Vibe magazine, and she was the last editor-in-chief of Honey, a magazine for 18- to 34-year-old black women.
Davis has contributed to many projects, such as Everything But the Burden: What White People are Taking from Black Culture (ed. Greg Tate;[6] Broadway Books, 2003). She wrote Beloved Baby: A Baby's Scrapbook and Journal (Pocket Books, 1995).[4]
She has been featured in documentary films including The Souls of Black Girls (2008). Davis has had several television appearances, most recently on BET in their presentation of Hip Hop vs. America II: Am I My Sister's Keeper?[citation needed]
Davis is working on a novel called The Revolution of Happiness: A Book and Digital Conversation Project.[10] It is a culmination of "honest and innovative cross-generational conversations with revolutionary-thinking Black women about disturbing the pain that has burdened or molested our natural exquisite selves".[10]
Davis is the leader of "Mad Free," a multi-platform, multi-generational critical community conversation.[11]