Conversations with Felicia: Iman

Summary

In this engaging conversation with Felicia Mabuza-Suttle, world-renowned supermodel Iman opens up about her journey from Somalia to international stardom. She recounts her early life as the daughter of a Somalian diplomat and the dramatic shift from being a diplomat's daughter to a refugee in Kenya. Despite not growing up with knowledge of the fashion world, Iman's innate elegance and linguistic skills led her to become one of the first African supermodels. She discusses the racial challenges she faced in the modeling industry and touches on her life outside of modeling, sharing personal insights often unknown to the public. The discussion highlights the diversity of African beauty and the importance of correcting misconceptions about Africa, portraying it as a continent rich in culture, knowledge, and humanity.

Highlights

• Iman reflects on transitioning from Somali diplomat royalty to Kenyan refugee overnight. 🇸🇴
• She didn't know the fashion industry existed until her move to America, yet she became iconic. 🇺🇸
• Challenges faced as the 'first African model' and the misconceptions of Africa she confronted. 🌍
• Iman's story shifts perspectives on African identity and racial dynamics in modeling. 💡
• Personal confessions: Iman loves cooking and values family time, debunking the high-life stereotype. 🏠

Key Takeaways

• Iman discusses her journey from a diplomat's daughter in Somalia to becoming a refugee in Kenya, highlighting resilience and adaptability. 🌍
• Despite having no initial interest in fashion, Iman became one of the first African supermodels, disrupting stereotypes and transcending barriers. 💃
• The interview sheds light on the racial challenges within the modeling industry, emphasizing persistent diversity issues. 🔍
• Iman emphasizes the richness and diversity of African beauty, challenging monolithic perceptions. 🌟
• Personal insights reveal Iman's love for cooking and family life, showcasing her multifaceted personality. 🍲

Overview

Iman’s life story is a remarkable tale of resilience and reinvention. Born in Somalia to a diplomat father, her privileged life shifted dramatically during the 1969 revolution, transforming her into a refugee in Kenya. These early life experiences shaped her formidable character and underscored her adaptability, traits that would serve her well in the cutthroat world of fashion.

Despite her late introduction to the fashion industry, Iman's illustrious career defied norms and shattered barriers. She candidly discusses the racial perceptions she faced in the 1970s modeling landscape, highlighting ongoing challenges for diversity. Her experience underscores not only her pioneering role as an African model but also the industry's ongoing struggle with racial equity.

Beyond the runway, Iman reveals personal facets often hidden from the limelight. She is an avid cook who enjoys preparing meals for her family, showcasing her grounded nature. Her narrative challenges stereotypes and enriches the understanding of African cultural identity, imbuing a sense of pride and progress in cultural conversations.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction The introduction discusses the concept of racial identity, particularly focusing on the experience of being identified as black. The speaker reflects on how, in their home country, everyone being black negates the need to label oneself as 'black'. This serves as a segue into the speaker's personal introduction, raising the question 'Who is Iman?'
• 00:30 - 01:30: Early Life and Education This chapter delves into the early life and education of the speaker, who was born and raised in Somalia. Her father worked as an ambassador to the Middle East, leading the family to relocate firstly to Sudan and then to Saudi Arabia. The chapter hints at the speaker’s beginnings before she became a top model in the highly competitive modeling industry.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Becoming a Refugee and Pursuing Political Science The chapter discusses the narrator's early life spent in Saudi Arabia and the educational journey in Egypt. Due to less favorable educational opportunities for girls in Saudi Arabia, the narrator was sent to a boarding school in Egypt for better education. In 1969, a revolution occurred in Somalia, leading to a military coup. Consequently, the situation in Somalia became unstable, with people in government disappearing or being imprisoned, which affected the narrator's family as well.
• 03:00 - 03:30: Discovering Fashion The chapter 'Discovering Fashion' opens with a harrowing personal narrative about the drastic changes in life circumstances faced by the narrator. It narrates the desperate and courageous escape orchestrated by the narrator's mother, who, driven by fear for her family's safety, rented a den for the night. The escape happened under the cover of darkness where the family left with only the clothes on their back. Their journey led them to the border of Kenya, which they crossed on foot. Overnight, the narrator's status shifted dramatically from being a diplomat's daughter to a refugee in Kenya. The situation underscores the unexpected twists of fate and highlights gratitude towards the Kenyan government for their response.
• 03:30 - 05:00: Challenges as an African Model The chapter titled 'Challenges as an African Model' narrates the experiences of an individual who was given a scholarship, fulfilling a long-standing desire to enter the field of political science due to familial influence. They studied political science at Nairobi University, balancing their education with part-time work at the Ministry of Tourism. Additionally, the individual is proficient in Italian, emphasizing their diverse skill set and adaptability. This chapter highlights the unique challenges and triumphs encountered while pursuing education and career goals in Africa.
• 05:00 - 07:00: Industry Racism and Representation The chapter delves into the speaker's experiences in different jobs, highlighting how they transitioned from waitressing and translation work to entering the modeling industry, despite initially having no exposure or interest in fashion. The narrative underscores the unexpected nature of their career path and offers a perspective on industry representation and preconceived notions about fashion.
• 07:00 - 09:30: African Beauty and Diversity The chapter titled 'African Beauty and Diversity' delves into the perceptions and misconceptions of Africa, particularly in the context of fashion. The narrator discusses the experience of being the first African model, highlighting the challenges faced due to the distorted perceptions of Africa. The narrative contrasts the stereotyped image of Africa with the reality, as epitomized by the emergence of a stunning African woman in the fashion industry.
• 09:30 - 12:00: Personal Life and Hobbies The chapter titled 'Personal Life and Hobbies' begins with the narrator recounting an experience upon arrival to an event or location. A person named Peter had already spun a narrative or story about the narrator before their arrival, which sparked significant interest and mystery about them. The narrator reflects on how, while they were in Kenya, Peter crafted this tale and proclaimed them as 'the most beautiful woman in the world,' adding to the aura of myth and intrigue surrounding them.

Conversations with Felicia: Iman Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] in the industry people would say the black m i mean I have never considered myself a black person in my country we're all black so there was not a point of me saying I'm black of course I'm black you know what I mean now let get into who is Iman and
• 00:30 - 01:00 where you came from you know there many stories about how you were discovered I mean here's this beautiful African girl who becomes one of the top models in the most competitive um business yeah more compared business General yeah so tell us about this story well the I was born and raised in Somalia my father became an ambassador to Middle East so we started he started in Sudan than Saudi
• 01:00 - 01:30 Arabia but mostly was based in Saudi Arabia the education for girls in Saudi Arabia wasn't that great so he sent me to a boarding school in Egypt so I went to school in Egypt most of my young adult hood and uh in 1969 there was a revolution in Somalia uh military coup and so Riv was sent back home and then people started people who were in government started either disappearing being being in jail and so my mother was
• 01:30 - 02:00 fearful for my father and she decided one night she just rented a den and just got us all in in the middle of the night with just the clothes on on our back and um went to uh the border of Kenya and literally crossed by foot the border and instantly in overnight just like that I was you know from uh a diplomat's daughter to a refugee in in Kenya and thank God the Kenyan government you know
• 02:00 - 02:30 took us in and um but there was a limited time that they can take care of us and so we were given scholarship and I always wanted to uh be in the field of political science because my father and my uncles were all politicians and uh so I was neighboring in political science in Nairobi when uh uh I was living in campus at the Nairobi University and uh I was going to work part-time at the ministry of tour I speak Italian and
• 02:30 - 03:00 French so I was translating the um the Safari brour for them in Italian and in French so that was one of my jobs and uh also I was um you know uh waitressing like all you know so the dream was not to be a model one day oh no I have never seen a passion passion magazine in my life till I arrived in America I've never worn makeup in my life I've never worn heels in my life I had no concept
• 03:00 - 03:30 that there was a business that's called fashion I had no idea talk about the challenges as the first African model how were you perceived at the time you came here the perceptions of Africa were completely distorted it was tazan and tazan coming into the village running out all these Africans so you came and bang here is this most beautiful woman from Africa
• 03:30 - 04:00 I have to say to you um when I arrived Peter be created a story before I arrived so there was this huge interest um and um um myth and mystery about me mind you I was see in Kenya when he created this mystery and said I have found the most beautiful uh woman of in the world and she is um
• 04:00 - 04:30 you know upon her in the jungle so to speak and that she's um over six feet tall so everybody had this idea of how I would look because it was all written and there was and there was respectus but nobody really actually there was a myth behind me so when I arrived here everybody thought first of all I didn't speak any English and I speak five languages okay so and um and they had they somehow in their head I don't know what they have envisioned
• 04:30 - 05:00 but the vision that they had in their head was not what they saw MH one of the things that the papers kept on writing and saying is that how legal I am you are they I'm sorry the all Somali are legal so that's exactly how my sisters and brothers car themselves that's my whole nation cares themselves so you know do you know what I mean it's like when I arrived here people would say uh uh in the industry people would say the black model I mean I never considered
• 05:00 - 05:30 myself a black person in my country we're all black so there was not a point of me saying I'm black of course I'm black so you know I mean I have been described as I look like a white woman dipped in chocolate I mean I think they think it's a it's a a a something to be proud of in those days possibly was but it's insult I don't I don't have any white in me I don't want I don't want white people claiming me I have no white in me I'm a pure B Johnson then were the
• 05:30 - 06:00 and stilla um the top models we set the bar so high young women are just aspiring to be the next Iman in fact we talk to UTI who admires you great oh I adore Eli yeah well when I arrived here Beverly Johnson was the Top Model uh in the industry she was the first black model who were who was on the cover of am American vot um so I mean she was at
• 06:00 - 06:30 the height of her career but when I arrived they made attention between the two of us because in this industry it was always they only work with one black model at a time they don't need more than one you know and still Contin still the same yeah because you say that even on designers will only have two black models or two Asian model exactly and that's if if that's it even if they use
• 06:30 - 07:00 them you know because it has been for a while they haven't even been using any black models and we're talking about at an era where we have Obama a black president so you know so our industry is a little bit convoluted in the way it's think it thinks and is a very racist business in at it core its core you know uh uh they say to black models nowadays you know things like designer tools say we're not we don't need black models this season
• 07:00 - 07:30 you know and this is today we're not talking about 1975 we're talking about today but they're using Naomi canell a lot and uh of course no there are girl as I said there's one black at a time one black girl at a time of course there are a lot of you know from Uchi mayom Campbell Tyra Banks uh uh uh Veronica web n lir there are tons of black models tons of black Ms but they they'll give us a chance to want attitude there's one model who somehow brought about
• 07:30 - 08:00 confusion because after Iman who supposedly looked like a white woman dipped in chocolate then they brought out Al W was completely different the features were not the perceived or vitamin dipped in chocolate your feelings about why of a sudden such a major switch from a model that started that looked like IM man to a model that look like Al w i i don't think that they were
• 08:00 - 08:30 doing any switch I think Al W came on the scene you know what I mean one thing I really would like to people to understand the continent of Africa there is not one look okay we're not like saying England we're not like saying France we're not like saying Italy that's a country the difference between a country and a continent continent has a lot of countries within that border right so the South does not look like the North East does not look the West neighboring
• 08:30 - 09:00 countries don't look the same okay the Kenya and Somalia has they neighbors they're attached to each other with a territory and we we look completely different so the idea to say that I represent Africa it's not right yeah it's not right but at the same time the idea to say Al W represents Africa is not right because that means I'm not African do you know what I mean but I don't think in the modeling business it doesn't work you're being replaced your image where it is what who comes on the
• 09:00 - 09:30 scene it's just the newness of the business if somebody else comes today uh and and Al is at her height and the girl looks completely different than Alec that girl is because it's new our business is about new you know and she just came on the scene that's that's all it is and while when she came on the scene I was working at the same time we were both working at the same time so so it's not that anybody replaced anybody but it it's
• 09:30 - 10:00 just yeah it's a completely two different looks African beauty well I I don't think there is any African beauty as I said because there is every country is so different from from itself so so for me to say oh to look Regal that's that's that's it's then it's I'm saying that the person who doesn't have that quality is not beautiful you know and I think there is an inherent inherent africanness in all Africans and that's what makes s different even from African
• 10:00 - 10:30 amans if I get to those beautiful things there yes what don't people know about you that you've always wanted to tell them I'm a very good Homemaker I'm a very good cook um and a great needle pointer are you going to write a cookbook soon uh I don't know if I can write a cookbook I'm one of those people who can read e something or recipe and
• 10:30 - 11:00 then never look at it and just cook it and make it better than it was uh so I don't know I mean and I take bits from this because you know I like to eat healthy and I don't like heavy food so I will get ideas from from a dish and then take a couple of things out and put my own thing and then you know I cook literally every day so also you don't have a che huh you don't I'm not that rich no David one to make sure he paid
• 11:00 - 11:30 laa country so he paid laa so no actually yeah no I like cooking I like cooking I because if you live in New York it is so easy to get in the habit of ordering in people order in all the time but that's not a home yeah all right my daughter sit next to me when I'm cooking you know the whole thing the daughter it's daughters how many kids do you have I have two daughters I have a 31y old and a 9y old you look 39
• 11:30 - 12:00 yourself I'm 54 did you say I'm a 39y old no 311 year old and A9 okay that's why I said you look 39 so I'm 54 IM man as usual what a pleasure oh thank you and um I think we've done it today again eradicating negative stereotypes about Africa oh absolutely absolutely it's a it's a place of wealth is a place of knowledge
• 12:00 - 12:30 and it's a place of humanity Africa