Lots of girl power in this week’s Black People Magic…
Director Ava DuVernay had a major moment at the Venice Film Festival with her latest film, “Origin”… the audience was so moved that they gave her an astounding nine-minute standing ovation after the screening. Ava is the first Black female director from the U.S. to participate in Venice's official competition in its 80-year history of being one of the world's most important film fests.
New York Fashion Week kicked off earlier this week on Tuesday night with 53-year old supermodel Naomi Campbell leading a runway show celebrating the designs she created in collaboration with PrettyLittleThing.
And last, but not least, congratulations to Robiar (Robi) Smith! The Chicago entrepreneur followed her father’s legacy and made history as the first Black woman to launch a pest control company. Her father, Michael Benton, has been a local exterminator serving the South Side for over 40 years and his passion for service inspired Robi to launch R.B. Pest Solutions in 2017, not realizing the big deal it would become. She also developed R.B. Premium Products including a bug spray called “Bug Strike” and made history with that too, becoming the first Black woman to have a product deal with Home Depot. And it’s become so popular, it made its way to the Black Carpet at the BET Awards and got her an invitation to New York Fashion Week. You can order her products at HomeDepot.com and R.B. Pest solutions has 2 locations in the Chatham and Beverly neighborhoods in Chicago, servicing all of Illinois and Indiana.
& Remember to always celebrate your magic! xo