Tracey “Africa” Norman| Transgender Woman

Tracey Africa is a renowned fashion model who broke all barriers to reach her dreams. She is the first African-American trans woman to become a model and achieve the highest feats a model can achieve in the fashion industry. The New Jersey native has posed for various fashion magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar India, and Essence, among others.

She started her work in the mid -1970s, after being handpicked by Irving Penn from Italian Vogue. Soon after, Africa began accepting endorsement deals with various top brands, including Avon skincare as their brand ambassador and for Clairol’s Born Beautiful hair color boxes. This gave her not only fame but also fortune to pay her money loans and save for herself. In an interview, Africa said that she always felt that she was a female who was in the wrong body. She was afraid to come out due to her family problems and was afraid of rejection. It was only during her high school years that she was abler to come out as a transgender woman. She first took pills and then hormones from a doctor she met. Africa also began going to trans clubs and meeting other people in her community.