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Black Excellence
Michelle Obama Is America's Most Admired Woman
Barack Obama’s Favorite Movies of 2018 List Is Here, And It’s Pretty Damn Amazing
Michelle Obama is offi- cially the most admired woman in America, accord- ing to Gallup's annual poll. The Former first lady took the number one spot from Hillary Clinton, which makes it the first time in 17 years the former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate did not receive the top spot.
About 15 Americans polled chose the Becoming author as their most admired woman, followed by five per- cent picking Oprah Win- frey and four percent each casting a vote for Clinton and First Lady Melania Trump.
Other women who made the list include Queen Eliz- abeth, Supreme Court Jus- tice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ellen De-
MICHELLE OBAMA
Generes, and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai.
As for the gentle- men, Barack Obama clinched the number one spot with 19 percent voting for the former president as the most admired men. Thirteen per- cent of voters chose Donald Trump. This is the 11th time
Obama has earned the num- ber one spot and it places him one spot shy of tying with Dwight Eisenhower.
Other men who made the list include President George W. Bush, Bill Gates, former vice president Joe Biden, Dalai Laima, and Mike Pence.
Barack Obama has marked the end of 2018 with his annual list of his favorite books, movies, albums, and more. The former President of the United States is an avid and outspoken cinephile, so it’s not too much of a surprise to discover that his list of the best films of 2018 is one of the most impressive you’ll see this year. Mixing festival fa- vorites with top awards con- tenders and indie films that deserve a lot more eyeballs, Obama’s list features 15 ti- tles that perfectly represent 2018 at the movies.
Like nearly every film critic this year, Obama had a soft spot for foreign-language ti- tles “Roma,” “Burning,” and “Shoplifters,” plus documen- taries “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and “Minding the Gap.”
Obama is clearly rooting for “Roma” and Marvel’s “Black Panther” in this year’s Best Picture race, while con- tenders “BlacKkKlansman” and “If Beale Street Could Talk” are also featured on his list.
With “Minding the Gap,” “Blindspotting,” “Eighth Grade,” “Leave No Trace,” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” appearing on the list, Obama clearly would
BARACK OBAMA
have loved being at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Cinephiles will also be pleased Alex Garland’s “Annihilation” made the cut.
Check out the full list of Obama’s favorite films of 2018 below:
“Annihilation”
“Black Panther” “BlacKkKlansman” “Blindspotting” “Burning”
“The Death of Stalin” “Eighth Grade”
“If Beale Street Could Talk” “Leave No Trace”
“Minding the Gap”
“The Rider”
“Roma”
“Shoplifters”
“Support the Girls”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”
21-Year-Old From Viral Howard Homecoming Photo Lands Cover Of Elle Magazine
Viral images from Anok Yai’s time at a Howard Uni- versity’s homecoming cele- bration have vaulted her from Instagram timelines to the cover of Elle's January 2019 issue.
According to Yahoo, 21- year-old Anok Yai was a biochemistry student at New York’s Plymouth State University when the follow- ing photos of her hanging out at Howard’s 2017 homecom- ing landed on Instagram.
The images attracted the attention of modeling agen- cies, and within a week, Yai signed with NEXT model management in New York.
Yai told the Boston Globe she was surprised by the at- tention the pictures received, saying "My phone started vi- brating rapidly for a long, long time ... I honestly thought someone made a meme of me or something.
Coming from a Sudanese and Egyptian background, Yai told Elle that her family was not just surpised about the attention the pictures re- ceived, but were skeptical about the offers rolling in. She said her father told her, “You’re telling me that some- one wants to pay for your flight to LA, pay for your hotel and then pay you to
ANOK YAI
take photos? It’s a scam.” Despite her parents' con- cern, Yai obviously took ad- vantage of the new opportunities available to her, and quickly began book- ing shoots and shows. During Prada's Fall/Winter show this year, she accomplished a feat matched only by Naomi Campbell when she became the second Black woman ever to open a show for the brand. Although things were tak- ing off in her career, the model was hesitant to leave school behind. It was only after her chemistry professor joked about modeling being far more lucrative than sci- ence did she decide to totally
focus on modeling.
Yai comes from a family
of five children and worked upto80hoursaweektopay for school during her time as a biochem student. Her fam- ily fled Sudan for the United States to escape the civil war when the model was four.
Coming from a diverse background, Yai told Elle she wants to see more Black women and Black hairstyles represented in fashion. She has reportedly successfully lobbied the brands she's worked for to allow her to ap- pear with her natural hair in various styles. She also works for inclusion behind the scenes in fashion.
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