MagSwag: The lovely, talented Misty Copeland graces the latest issue of Essence Magazine

The September issue of Essence magazine features Misty Copeland - the first Black woman to perform the lead in Swan Lake for the American Ballet Theatre, and then days later becoming the first Black woman to be promoted to principal ballerina in the ABT's 75-year history. 

"I can't believe my life right now," she told cover story writer (and friend) Julee Wilson Wareham.

Black women are always getting a bad rap, especially when being compared to our white counterparts. We're often held up to the white folks standards of beauty and success, accused of being  'angry black women' when we demand respect, and often made to feel like we could never accomplish something as important and monumental as performing the lead role in ballet.

When I was a child, I loved watching ballet and gymnastics, and anything that had to do with dance. But the one thing I noticed was that there weren't many ballerinas or gymnasts who looked like me. I grew up with the notion that all ballerinas were white, because that's what was mainly shown on tv. Yeah, we may have been in the background performing minor, less important roles- as black women are in every other aspect of life- but we weren't praised, talked about, and respected like the white dancers.

"I'm going to continue to be who I am and my experiences as a Black woman have made me who I am," says Copeland. "All of a sudden now that I am in this position, I'm not going to say 'I'm just a dancer.' It's a huge deal because I'm a Black woman. That's why it's a big deal."

Also in this months issue, there is a very important- and much need to be discussed- article about black women and police brutality. We often hear about black men being killed by police- sadly, way more often than we should; but the fact that at least 5 black women (including 28-year old Sandra Bland and 18-year old Kindra Chapman) were killed while in police custody in the month of July 2015 alone, is definitely a subject that needs to be addressed. The police will have us to believe that these women all killed themselves while in jail, but I for one, am not buying it. 

Pick up the September issue of ESSENCE on newsstands 

August 14th.