We’re not crying, you’re crying! We’re not typically short on #BlackGirlMagic here at The Glow Up, but there was something extra special about watching Sport Illustrated’s first black Swimsuit-cover model—some relative unknown named Tyra Banks—pass the torch to the latest up-and-comer (and part of the 2017 Swimsuit issue’s “Rookie Class”) Danielle Herrington.
The Compton, Calif., native kills it on the cover of the 2018 issue in a barely there Barbie-pink bikini, and donned pink again to appear on Good Morning America Tuesday morning to talk with Michael Strahan about the amazing honor of following in the sandy footprints of Tyra Banks (’96 and ’97) and Beyoncé (’07).
That’s right—Herrington is only the third black woman to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated’s hallowed Swimsuit issue in 21 years. While at GMA, she received a very special message from predecessor and pioneer Banks:
So many little girls are looking at you and saying, “Oh, my gosh, that could be me one day.” There are so many people telling little girls that look like us that we’re not good enough and that we can’t achieve our goals. But by them looking at me back in the day and looking at you now, you are the living embodiment to say that dreams do come true.
If history is any precedent, the honor is truly a game changer, catapulting modeling careers into the stratosphere. We hope that this is only the beginning for Danielle Herrington, and kudos to Sports Illustrated for giving us more melanin again this year! Hopefully it won’t take another decade ...