People I Love (Fierceness)

Fall is a-coming, and while I dread going back to work, I love the impending need for coats and sweaters and boots and oxfords, not to mention the coming of fashion week. Hurray for fall fashion! In the spirit of fashion and the general need to up my fierceness, I thought I'd pay homage to a few folks I think are fly.

Let us start with a long deceased, but still beloved ambassador of fly. S/he sang, s/he danced, s/he was, in a word, fabulous. Give it up for Sylvester, Miss Ruby Blue, who gave us perhaps the world's greatest disco cuts such as "Do You Wanna Funk?", "Body Strong," "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)," and "Dance (Disco Heat)." I remember when I showed my friend, Solomon, the video for "Mighty Real"; he was horrified. I was amused. It was great.


I am often befuddled by people's inability to see the absolute all-out fierceness of this woman. For real, I think she is it. In Boomerang, her character was a joke, but let's be real, she is hotter than all these half-assed, faux-sexy broads clogging my airwaves. If you can't see it, you have bad taste.



This one, I catch a lot of flack for. Cicely Tyson? Are you kidding me? No, no I'm not. Miles Davis saw it, and he had great taste in women (see: Betty Davis). Unfortunately, he wasn't so great at appreciating if you know what I mean. The woman's in her seventies and still looks great.

Please ignore James Earl Jones.

So I've been watching a lot of TLC lately. On this station airs a show called "Ten Years Younger" in which the "Glam Squad" attempts to knock ten years off some woefully downtrodden individual. They are usually successful. On this show is where I discovered the "Eyebrow King," Damone Roberts (check out his website). I don't know why, but he so reminds me of Sylvester. His skin is flawless, his hair stays moisturized, and he's all about keeping the ladies (and the men) groomed and gorgeous. I just love him. If your eyebrow situation is shady or your face is in overall struggle mode, get to know him; he can help.



People love Pam Grier. I get it; her rack was quite phenomenal and she's aged well. However, I was always partial to the woman who played Cleopatra Jones, Miss Tamara Dobson. She seemed tougher, smarter and less like a pin-up (not that there's anything wrong with pin-ups). Plus she wore much cuter outfits in her Cleo Jones series. She recently passed (last year I think), but I still love her. I wish I had a picture of me trying to emulate her on old school day in high school. Oh well, it's probably much better that I don't.



You've all seen her in some questionable movie or other, and some damn good ones. She made appearances on "A Different World," "Girlfriends," and "That's So Raven" (RIP). She's always spicy, feisty, and generally too much. You just can't quite remember her name. Well you are sleeping ... hoard. her name is Jenifer Lewis and she is fiercer than your favorite actress.