Michael-Brown

It is no secret that beauty, skin care, and hair care play a large role in making women feel confident and empowered. In a society where beauty has long been correlated with Eurocentric features and whiteness, the media often does not represent women of color as traditionally “beautiful.” Makeup advertisements, magazine covers, and Barbie dolls disproportionately feature straight hair and white skin, which sets a standard of beauty that excludes Black women with dark skin and natural afro-textured hair.

Despite accounting for about 50 percent of the population, women are vastly underrepresented in the professional coaching environment. As recently as 2012, no women worked as coaches for the NBA, NFL, NHL, or MLB.

Getting banned from mainland China, being arrested in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, coming out publicly as a lesbian, and touring the world as a pop artist seems like too much to fit into one lifetime. However, as chronicled in the documentary, “Denise Ho: Becoming the Song,” Denise Ho has lived through all of this and more.

Two days after winning a national championship in épée, Anne Cebula, BC ’20, went to the sports medicine room on campus to ask for ibuprofen.

“You say you like to tan because it’s fun / But half the time you burn yourself; how is that fun?” Grace Victoria D’Haiti, BC ’21, asks in her song “Black Looks Better on Me.” The song is simultaneously a Black cultural anthem and a commentary on the phenomenon of “blackfishing,” which is when non-Black people pretend to be Black or alter their appearances to look ethnically Black.

“We all are roses. I think we’re all these beautiful plants waiting to emerge from the soil,” Mamadou Yattassaye, CC ’21, said when asked about the rose imagery in his debut album, “To Stitch a Rose.”

Scrolling through Guerin’s selection of luxury apparel and bags, you will find a logo on many of the products that looks simultaneously like an infinity sign, an ampersand, and the letters “CG.” All three of these interpretations are valid and intentional, as Chase Guerin, CC ’23, works to redefine the luxury goods industry by bringing symbolism and storytelling into his luxury lifestyle brand, Guerin.

Michael Rebell was growing frustrated. It was October, over 10 months after the trial had ended, and Judge William Smith still had not released a decision on the case. In the 50 years that Rebell had worked in education reform, he had never known a judge to take this long. His career had taught him that change often required patience, but that did not stop him from hoping that Smith’s decision would arrive sooner. The case he had presented, after all, was urgent: He believed democracy was on the line.

Whether it is a Glossier pink bubble wrap pouch, a paper Sweetgreen bag, or a “V” plastered on a pair of Veja sneakers, the Columbia Marketing Club knows that branding and marketing are inescapable in students’ daily lives—and not enough people on campus are talking about it.