Tracee Ellis Ross paid homage to her mother, Diana Ross, by remaking her iconic music video “Work That Body.”
The Black-ish actress said that her mother was 36 years old when she made the video. Although she didn’t understand the video back then, she now considers it groundbreaking, which is why she wanted to re-create it, as she explains on her website:
I am keenly aware of how we as women (and most specifically women of color) are presented and portrayed in media and how we present ourselves. And here was my mama from almost 30 years ago on the surface doing something that often snags me in videos today but why did I feel differently about it?
[…]
My mom felt whole and connected … and in her body in this video. I have spoken before about encouraging women to shift our gaze from how we are seen to how we are seeing and, more important, feeling. And I saw a woman feeling joyful in herself as a whole being; she didn’t seem to be presenting her ass or saying look at all the ways I can make myself look appealing to YOU. She seems to be saying, “this is ME feeling good and I am strong and sexy and joyful in ME”!
Take a trip down memory lane by watching Diana Ross’ original video:
And here’s her daughter’s:
Needless to say, she gets it from her mama.