Donyale Luna was the first Black model to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine. Called “the reincarnation of Nefertiti” by surrealist artist Salvador Dali, Donyale travelled from America to London in 1965 and broke boundaries as the cover model of British Vogue in March 1966.

Donyale was also the first Black woman to have a shop-window mannequin created in her image – just after the mannequin of Twiggy in 1966, Adel Rootstein released the Donyale version. As well as her career in fashion, the African American model appeared in films by Dali, Andy Warhol, and Federico Fellini.

Donyale Luna

Originally from Tiger Bay in Cardiff, and purportedly discovered by Cliff Gordon, Dame Shirl has left an indelible mark on popular culture with her incredible repertoire of now-classic songs.

Dame Shirl has the unique distinction of singing more than one Bond theme, in fact performing three – Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, and of course the bombastic Goldfinger.

All composed by John Barry, Goldfinger was written by Barry with lyrics by Joan Collins‘ husband at the time Anthony Newley. Packed full of powerful brass, the song ended on such a long note that it was reported that Shirley nearly fainted to sustain it during recording.

Renowned for her glamourous outfits and idiosyncratic hand movements, Dame Shirl had her own prime time entertainment show on BBC1 during the 1970s and she continues to appear in TV specials.

Dame Shirl

The most-charted female artist in history, with 100 songs on the billboard charts, her hits include “Respect”, “Think”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman”, and “I Say a Little Prayer”.

Her music and performances saw her crowned the The Queen of Soul before the 1960s came to an end, a title she retained all her life.

In later years, she collaborated with contemporary musicians including Annie Lennox and George Michael and was invited to perform at the White House.

The Queen of Soul

One of the most successful, talented and well-known footballers of all time, he introduced the phrase “the beautiful game” when talking about football.

Born as Edson Arantes do Nascimento, a nickname was acquired, and stuck, during his schooldays.

The Brazilian footballer made the pinnacle of his sport, becoming the highest-paid player for a time and scoring a World-record beating amount of goals throughout his career.

Edson

Naomi was the first Black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue and the first to appear on the important September issue of American Vogue.

Naomi scored her first British Vogue cover in December 1987 and, whilst she is the second Black model to appear on the cover of the magazine, she is the first to not have had her face obscured.

The first Black model on any edition of Vogue was Donyale Luna in 1966, who appeared on the British March issue, but the image chosen had her face partly hidden behind her hand.

30 years on from that famous January 1990 cover of “the big five” supermodels, Naomi is still modelling – on catwalks, in editorial, and in campaigns – as well as contributing to British Vogue under the fresh stewardship of Edward Enninful.

Naomi Campbell

An accomplished dancer, singer, and actress, Lola Falana‘s influential style continues to inspire to this day.

Persuaded by Sammy Davis Jr. to create a Las Vegas show, she quickly conquered the city.

Known as the Queen of Las Vegas, Lola Falana was the highest paid entertainer in the city by the late 1970s.

West Indian cricketer Learie Constantine was not only influential in British cricket but also in British society at large.

When London’s Imperial Hotel refused to honour Constantine’s room reservation, he successfully took legal action for breach of contract in a widely-reported milestone leading to anti-discrimination legislation.

The Race Relations Act of 1965 established the Race Relations Board, on which Constantine sat as one of three members, to investigate cases of racial discrimination.

Awarded a life peerage in 1969, Baron Constantine was the first Black Parliamentarian sitting in the House of Lords.

It’s now estimated that a quarter of cowboys in the Old West were African American, not they were represented fairly in Western films of the classic Hollywood era.

After the Civil War, a career as a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to African American men who, whilst they experienced widespread discrimination, found respect and equality within their crews.

Originally, the word “cowboy” was a pejorative term used by White cowhands for Black crew members but it’s a testament to the impact made by African American ranch workers that the title of cowboy is the one that prevails.

Gingham West

Generally omitted from history, and from the repertoires of concerts, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges was the first classical composer of African origin to achieve major success in Europe with their music.

A contemporary of Mozart, which led to the moniker of “Black Mozart”, Saint-Georges composed many pieces of music for ensembles of all sizes as well as operas.

More than a successful and groundbreaking composer, Saint-Georges was an accomplished sportsman and dancer who mixed with royalty, invited to London by the Prince of Wales (George IV) to fence, and to Versailles to perform for and with Queen Marie Antoinette.

Saint-Georges

The Bond films used their global reach to help make steps towards better representation, creating a select sorority along the way of Black actresses who broke new ground with each film appearance.

The first Black actress Sylvana Henriques appeared in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”, the trailblazer of a select group of groundbreaking women who featured in one of the largest and most successful British film franchises. Whilst it was a non-speaking role, Sylvana‘s inclusion was an important step in representation given the impact the Bond films had, and still have, with audiences globally.

Further roles with more responsibiliy were to follow for pioneering Black actresses in the Bond films, with Trina Parks as the first Black actress with a speaking role in “Diamonds are Forever”; Gloria Hendry as the first Black actress to portray one of Bond’s love-interests; and Grace Jones taking control in “A View to a Kill”, a stand-out character in the film and in Bond history.

Naomie Harris is the first British Black actress to appear with Bond, and sets the record for the most Bond-film credits by a Black actress appearing as Eve Moneypenny in the final three Daniel Craig films.

The final Daniel Craig film “No Time to Die” saw Lashana Lynch take on the role of a British secret agent who is assigned Bond’s legendary code number, very much an equal to Bond.

Lynch’s assured performance embodies the progress Black actresses have made through the years, not just in the film franchise but also societal – it’s quite feasible that Nomi could headline her own spy film set in 00-branch.