Belle-Noir Magazine was originally concepted in August 2003 after a discussion in the Yahoo! Group EbonyBBWsandEbonyGentlemen in which several of the female members voiced their concerns over the lack of representation of BBWs of Color in print media. It was agreed that whether it was a magazine geared towards BBWs or a magazine for Women of Color, women size 14 and over were rarely ever featured at all. Ms. Aja B. Stubbs, seeing the past and recent demise of several magazines for both BBWs and women of color, decided to take her personal goal of starting a magazine to the 21st Century by creating an online publication that would be dedicated to women just like her and the lovely ladies in "Ebz". With the help of several friends in "Ebz" and a lot of determination, Belle-Noir E-zine launched on November 1, 2003 on a Geocities site. The site witnessed 800+ hits in its first month online.
After several successful years as a bi-monthly online e-zine, and a daily blog, Belle-Noir Magazine now transistions to a digital magazine format. Published bi-monthly, the magazine contimues to take its place as one of the top sites for plus size women of Color.
Belle-Noir Magazine's Objectives:
• To promote the positive image of Big Beautiful Women of Color by featuring content (i.e. articles, poetry, photos, etc.) of an informative, entertaining, and inspiring nature, created specifically with the Big Beautiful Woman of Color in mind.
• To support the work and deeds of other individuals who promote size acceptance, the positive portrayal of Big Beautiful Women, and the positive portrayal of women of Color.
About Belle-Noir Communications
Belle-Noir Communications is a multimedia company that produces both online content and offline events that aim to promote the positive image of plus size women and women of Color with the goal of helping them live their best lives in a big & beautiful way. The entities under our brand include:
• Belle-Noir Magazine: The online lifestyle magazine created with the plus size woman of Color in mind and at heart.
• Curves & Cocktails: A socializing and shopping event created specifically for the plus size woman.
• Phat Poetry: A poetry and spoken word event dedicated to plus size women and big handsome men.
•The Big. Beautiful. You. Empowerment Tour: A traveling tour featuring motivational speakers, a vendor pavillion, and entertainment each night of the event. (Coming 2011)
