Dorothy Dandridge
Date: September 8, 1965
Drug: Imipramine, AKA Tofranil (antidepressant)

The first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, the 42-year-old Dandridge was found dead by her manager from what was diagnosed as “acute drug intoxication.” Her death was ruled to be due to an accidental overdose of Tofranil, an antidepressant that she took for what today might be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. Some people claim that she died from combining the Tofranil with pain medication she was taking for a broken ankle.

Mother, it’s cold here
Father, thy will be done
Thunder and lightning are crashing down
They got me on the run
Direct me to the sun
Redemption, keep my covers clean tonight
Baby, we can start again

Only the young can break away, break away
Lost when the wind blows, on your own
Only the young can break away, break away
Lost when the wind blows, on your own

Personal motto

Be kind.

Never leaves home without

“A book, I hate wasting time waiting, so always have a book to read in case I get stuck waiting somewhere.”

Style icon

“Thandie Newton, I’ve never seen her have a bad style moment.”

First thing in the morning

“I meditate.”

Last thing before bed

“I meditate and give thanks for at least 5 things that have happened during the day.”

READ MORE AT THE VOGUE ITALIA / BLACK SITE.

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, ‘Yes.’

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

I am extremely meh right now… So I googled E Alt. 

Out of curiousity? Perhaps. I love almost every single editorial she has ever styled, I wanted to know how she dresses herself, I already know (from one of those profiles) she’s long and lean… I already know we have the same favourite brands, or rather, we like the same designers (who sometimes move around between various brands). 

So I googled her. See these pictures? I’m speechless. If you know me… Well. 

In other news. 

I need to be saved. I am so unbelievably stuck, I can’t get up.