Michaela Angela Davis

Michaela Angela Davis is a writer on African-American style, race, gender and hip-hop culture in the United States. She is also a fashion expert and an "image activist."

Michaela Angela Davis was born in Germany and raised in Washington, D.C. and is of West African, German and Irish descent. Her mother was convinced her next child would be a boy, and after visiting the Sistine Chapel during her pregnancy decided to name him Michael Angelo. When Davis was born, her mother gave her the female version of the name, Michaela Angela.

From an early age, Davis was a student of the arts, especially acting. She began her studies at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts as a National Arts Scholar, then moved on to New York University, the Stella Adler Acting Conservatory and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

After completing her studies, Davis went to work in 1991 for Essence as an associate fashion editor. Her first assignment was the styling of Anita Hill.

She was the associate fashion, culture and the executive fashion and beauty editor for Essence magazine. She was the founding fashion director for Vibe magazine, and she was the last editor-in-chief of Honey, a magazine for 18- to 34-year-old black women. Davis has written for many projects such as Everything But the Burden: What White People are Taking from Black Culture (ed. Greg Tate; Broadway Books, 2003), and authored Beloved Baby: A Baby's Scrapbook and Journal (Pocket Books, 1995). On the issue of colorism within the black community, Davis has said that "Anything that tears us apart as sisters, there’s no privilege in, we have equal pain, it’s just different and has been processed and presented to us in different ways."

She was also a celebrity stylist for people such as Oprah Winfrey, Beyoncé, Prince, Diana Ross, Donald Trump, Mary J. Blige and LL Cool J. She has worked as a stylist on several films, including the 2002 film Paid in Full.

She has been featured in documentary films including The Souls of Black Girls (2008). Davis has had several television appearances, most recently on BET in their presentation of Hip Hop vs. America II: Am I My Sister's Keeper?

Davis is developing an online magazine and television show, and a documentary film and book exploring race, gender, beauty and identity. She serves on the board of Black Girls Rock!, Imagenation, The Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School, and conducts her own monthly career-mentoring program called Salon de Shine. She regularly speaks on campuses and in the community. She is currently working a novel called “The Revolution of Happiness: A Book and Digital Conversation Project.” It is a culmination of “honest and innovative cross-generational conversations with revolutionary-thinking Black women about disturbing the pain that has burdened or molested our natural exquisite selves.”

Davis is the leader of "Mad Free," a multi-platform, multi-generational critical community conversation with revolutionary women whose work and lives serve to liberate the narrow and misinformed image of women.