PHOTO CAPTION: Miss Black History Month: Ten finalists in the Miss Black History Month Pageant were sashed recently at the Altamont Court Hotel. The competition which will have its coronation in February is open to women aged 17 to 30 years and serves to highlight Jamaica's culture. The ten finalists are, from left: Shanua Turner, Miss Jamaica Constabulary Force; Sabrina Brown, Miss Sammy's Shoe Store; Patricia Morris, Miss NHL Engineering; Cerline Brown, Miss Papine Jerk Centre; Ramona Miller, Miss Athol B. Chin Limited; Allison Dorah, Miss Golden Bowl Restaurant Ltd.; Ercia Williams, Miss AB's Promotions Ltd.; Nadine Thomas, Miss JR's Chemicals; Kimsasha Callum, Miss Snow Jam and Shelly Ann Spaulding, Miss Yatt and Trina Liquor Store.
LOS ANGELES (AP):
AT LEAST one black family learns what it is like to be white, while a white family becomes black in the six-part documentary series Black. White, which is scheduled for broadcast on the FX cable network in March.
Makeup temporarily transforms the two families for the series developed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler and actor-rapper Ice Cube.
"The loud message of the show is that we are a divided nation," said Cutler, who won an Emmy for outstanding reality programme for American High. "But we can come together if we're willing to talk about our differences and work to see the world through the eyes of other people."
MAKEUP WONDERS
For the run of the show, the Sparks family of Atlanta and the Wurgel family of Santa Monica share a home in the San Fernando Valley. But with makeup, Brian and Renee Sparks and their son, Nick, are transformed from black to white. Bruno and Carmen Wurgel and their daughter, Rose, become black.
The race-changing makeup application, administered by Oscar-nominated artist Keith VanderLaan, took three to five hours per family member.
"We're doing something that has never been done before that advances in makeup technology allow," said Cutler, who produced the Oscar-nominated documentary "The War Room."
The show's creators say the switch changes the families' core values in ways they could not have imagined.
"Black.White will force people to challenge themselves and really examine where we stand in terms of race in this country," said Ice Cube.
