Looking At AOL Black Voices' List of "10 Women We Love to Hate" - Page 2

8. Kimora Lee Simmons. I love the fabulosity (her word) of the ex-wife of rap mogul Russell Simmons and creative director of urban clothing empire Phat Farm and Baby Phat. She lives in a 40,000 square foot mansion complete with a golden toilet, maids, cooks, all kinds of personal attendants, and two beautiful and precocious children, all of whom are featured on the Style Network/E! Channel reality series, aptly title, Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane. I don’t hate but congratulate this St. Louis-born, self-styled diva and former Chanel model who doesn’t take herself too seriously and who seems to be having a blast. Like Kimora, I am a legend; but unlike Kimora, it’s only in my own mind.

7. Condeleezza Rice. In the waning hours of the Bush administration, we don’t hear much from or about the Secretary of State. You would think that a classy, intelligent, and powerful black woman would garner some respect from her community, just because, and that they would take pleasure in seeing a black woman occupying such a powerful position on the world stage. But from the time she joined the Bush cabinet, the Alabama-born former Stanford University provost has endured nothing but ridicule from blacks – not about her foreign policy positions but her appearance (namely her hair) and party affiliation. The cheap shots lead me to wonder if this group of haters will ever be satisfied. Will any black person ever be good enough to satisfy their little known or understood unrealistic demands? Can anyone say, “Obama drama?”

6. Tyra. I still watch the former Victoria's Secret and Sports Illustrated swimsuit model’s mega-hit, America’s Next Top Model (ANTM), although I don’t really feel that it serves as a platform to launch nascent careers. In the four years that ANTM has been on the air, only two of its participants have had something remotely resembling “success” – Eva “The Diva” Pigford (now Marcille, producer and host of the now-defunct BET series, My Model is Better Than Your Model) and Toccara, a plus size model. The show may not have made stars of its participants but it has certainly made a mogul out of Tyra, who has a hit syndicated talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, and is set to expand her empire with a new deal recently struck with Warner Brothers.

Article Author: Carla Thompson

Carla Thompson is a New York-based freelance writer and author of the memoir, Bearing Witness: Not So Crazy in Alabama (August Press). The self-described granola-eating black Republican also maintains the blog, The Ride: Life Lessons for Those Who …

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