{{Short description|American fashion model (born 1952)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox person |name = Tracey Norman |image = |birth_name = Tracey Gayle Norman |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1952|12|14}} |birth_place = Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |height = {{height|m=1.77}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pavia |first1=Will |title=The model who tricked the fashion industry |url=https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/the-model-who-tricked-the-fashion-industry-fcqx3zgs5 |website=The Times |access-date=23 January 2023 |language=English |date=March 12, 2016}}</ref> |other_names = Tracey Africa |occupation = Model |years_active= 1972–present |known_for = First African-American trans woman in mainstream fashion modeling; Clairol "Born Beautiful" campaign }}
'''Tracey "Africa" Norman''', {{aka}} '''Tracey Africa''', is an American fashion model and the first African-American trans woman to achieve prominence in the industry.<ref name="thecut" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefashionspot.com/runway-news/712717-strut-premiere-party/|title=Strut Premier Party: 5 Things We Learned|date=2016-09-13|website=theFashionSpot|access-date=2019-12-16}}</ref> Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Norman has appeared in ''Essence'', ''Vogue Italia'', and ''Harper's Bazaar'' India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nymag.com/thecut/2015/12/susan-taylor-tracey-africa.html|title=Susan Taylor Says She Wouldn't Have Outed Tracey Africa|last=Yuan|first=Jada|date=27 December 2015|website=The Cut|access-date=2016-03-11}}</ref> In 2015, ''New York'' published a cover story on her life and career.
==Early life== Tracey Norman was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1952. She identified as a woman from a young age, later stating, "I always felt inside, since far back as I can remember, that I was female."<ref name="queernewark">{{cite web |last=Extra |first=Naomi |title=Tracey Africa Norman Interview |date=October 31, 2016 |url=https://queer.newark.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/transcript/2016-10-31%20Tracey%20Africa%20Norman%20interviewed%20by%20Naomi%20Extra.pdf |website=Queer Newark Oral History Project |access-date=2 December 2023}}</ref> As a child, she studied the women in her life, including teachers and female family members, to learn feminine traits. She was a shy, quiet child and the first person in her family to graduate high school.<ref name="queernewark" /> At a young age, Norman was sexually molested by an older neighbor.<ref name="queernewark" />
In middle school, she and her family survived the 1967 Newark riots, and she remembers seeing army tanks on the street outside their home in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Weequahic.<ref name="queernewark" /> She attended Clinton Place Junior High. Norman mostly lived with her mother, but for a few years in middle school, lived with her father.<ref name="queernewark" /> Her art teacher introduced her to theater, and she met the actress Pearl Bailey.<ref name="queernewark" /> Her parents, both professional bowlers, met at a bowling alley in Newark and would take Norman and her sister bowling as children.<ref name="queernewark" /> Her mother eventually got a job in the County Food Stamp Department, where she worked for 25 years. In summers, Norman visited family in North Carolina. In high school, she attended North Tech and learned to work on cars; her interest had developed earlier, when she drove her grandfather's car.<ref name="queernewark" /> On the day of her high school graduation in 1972, she came out to her mother, who was supportive.<ref name="queernewark" />
== Career ==
=== Early modeling (early 1970s–1975) === In the early 1970s, two years after graduating high school, Norman began modeling in the Newark area, working with makeup artist Al Grundy and Grundy's brother, a fashion designer. She and other young women practiced walking in Grundy's hallway to learn the runway.<ref name="queernewark" /> For a few years, she modeled in Newark and New York, attending fashion shows and gaining experience.<ref name="queernewark" /> She practiced her runway walk extensively because she is mildly bowlegged. To get into fashion shows, she told people she was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology.<ref name="queernewark" />
In 1975, Norman was discovered by photographer Irving Penn. She had not been invited to a photo shoot but was swept up in a crowd of models and found herself being photographed by Penn for ''Vogue Italia''.<ref name="thecut" /> Soon after, she began working with the magazine, earning $1,500 a day ({{Inflation|US|1500|1975|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="queernewark" />
=== Mainstream success (1975–1980) === Norman quickly found work across the country. She was billed as the "young Beverly Johnson."<ref name="queernewark" /> She modeled in Chicago, New York, Las Vegas, and Miami, doing hair commercials and catalogue work, and appeared in fashion shows at Newark Symphony Hall.<ref name="queernewark" />
She moved to New York, and two years later appeared on the box of Clairol's "Born Beautiful" hair color No. 512, Dark Auburn.<ref name="thecut" /> She did not disclose that she was transgender, and landed an exclusive contract with Avon for a skin care line.<ref name="thecut" /> As her profile rose, she worried about being outed. She preferred working with white brands but took a job with ''Essence'' in pursuit of her first magazine cover.<ref name="queernewark" />
=== Outing and career loss (1980) === In 1980, while on a photo shoot for ''Essence'' in which she was modeling as Cleopatra, a hairdresser's assistant discovered that she was transgender and told the editor, Susan Taylor.<ref name="queernewark" />
The next day, Norman could not find work. Her photos were not published, and no company would hire her. She went to see her agent, Zoli, who dropped her, citing her hips as too big, though she was a size 6.<ref name="queernewark" /> ''Essence'' did not pay her for the shoot.<ref name="queernewark" /> She moved back to her mother's house in Newark and worked local shows for a while.
=== Paris === Norman moved to Paris with two friends who were also models. They arrived in the off-season and struggled financially, taking turns paying rent and eating sandwiches of bread, French fries, and mustard.<ref name="queernewark" />
She found work at The Palace, where she and two other models performed as the Supremes at tea dances.<ref name="queernewark" /> She later signed a six-month contract with Balenciaga.<ref name="queernewark" />
=== Ballroom career === When her Balenciaga contract ended, Norman found little work in Milan and returned to New York, signing with Grace del Marco Agency. The agency provided few bookings, and Norman took a job at Show Center, performing in a burlesque peep show.<ref name="queernewark" />
Norman became active in the ballroom scene. She had attended balls in New York in the 1970s but found the scene unwelcoming; she was more accepted in New Jersey.<ref name="queernewark" /> In the late 1980s and 1990s, she competed in categories including face, body, and runway, winning attention for her modeling walk.<ref name="queernewark" />
In 1990, she joined the House of Africa, adopting the middle name "Africa."<ref name="queernewark" /> She was eventually voted in as "mother" of the house, a position she held for two or three years.<ref name="queernewark" /> She has won trophies in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington, and Atlanta, and was inducted into the ballroom hall of fame in 2001.<ref name="thecut" /><ref name="queernewark" />
=== Career resurgence (2015–) === In December 2015, ''New York''{{'}}s digital fashion site ''The Cut'' published a profile of Norman. Clairol subsequently reached out to her, and in 2016 announced that she would become the face of their "Nice 'n Easy Color As Real As You Are" campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/beauty-style/first-black-transgender-model-tracey-norman-lands-major-modeling-contract|title=First Black Transgender Model Tracey Norman Lands Major Modeling Contract|first=Julia|last=Malacoff|date=August 17, 2016|work=shape.com|access-date=August 19, 2016|archive-date=August 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819000150/http://www.shape.com/lifestyle/beauty-style/first-black-transgender-model-tracey-norman-lands-major-modeling-contract|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2016, Norman and Geena Rocero became the first openly transgender models to appear on the cover of ''Harper's Bazaar''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Yuan |first=Jada |url=https://nymag.com/thecut/2016/09/tracey-africa-and-geena-rocero-cover-harpers-bazaar.html |title=Tracey Africa and Geena Rocero Cover Harper's Bazaar |publisher=Nymag.com |date=2016-09-15 |accessdate=2016-09-21}}</ref> That year, she also appeared in a Lexus commercial and the film ''Lady Seven Sings'', and was interviewed by ''The Times'' of London and ''Marie Claire'' South Africa.<ref name="queernewark" />
==Personal life== Norman has said she identified as a woman from an early age. In a 2015 cover story for ''New York'', she said, "It just seemed like I was living in the wrong body. I always felt female."<ref name="thecut">{{Cite news |last1=Yuan |first1=Jada |last2=Wong |first2=Aaron |url=https://www.thecut.com/2015/12/tracey-africa-transgender-model-c-v-r.html |title=The First Black Trans Model Had Her Face on a Box of Clairol |date=December 15, 2015 |work=The Cut}}</ref>
On the day of her high school graduation, Norman came out to her mother, who embraced her. Her mother said she had always known.<ref name="thecut" /> Norman began transitioning shortly after. She later learned from a former classmate that she could take birth control pills to feminize her body, and eventually found a doctor who provided hormone injections.<ref name="thecut" /> A year after graduation, she felt able to present as a woman in public.<ref name="thecut" />
After transitioning, she began attending queer bars and clubs in Newark, including Le Joc and Murphy's.<ref name="queernewark" />
Norman has collaborated with designer Douglas Says for several decades, serving as his muse. In 2022, the Newark Museum of Art acquired a full-length portrait of Norman in a Douglas Says gown, painted by Mickalene Thomas, for an exhibition on Newark's contributions to fashion.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mroz |first=Jacqueline |date=2024-02-28 |title=Groundbreaking Fashion Designers With Newark Roots Get Their Due at New Exhibit |url=https://njmonthly.com/articles/arts-entertainment/newark-museum-of-art-fashion-exhibit-the-story-of-newark-fashion-atelier-to-runway/ |access-date=2026-01-26 |website=New Jersey Monthly}}</ref>
In a 2021 interview, Norman said she does not identify as transgender, but simply as a woman: "I've always identified as being a woman. It was ''New York'' mag and the ''London Times'' and ''Marie Claire'' that put the word trans and attached it to my name."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Masters |first=Jeffrey |date=2021-02-02 |title=Tracey 'Africa' Norman Looks Back on Her Legendary Modeling Career |url=https://www.advocate.com/transgender/2021/1/27/transgender-tracey-africa-norman-clairol-model |access-date=2021-02-09 |website=The Advocate |language=en}}</ref>
== Further reading == * A storyline in the show ''Pose'' was inspired by an instance of rejection that Tracey Norman experienced by ''Playboy'' and ''The Oprah Winfrey Show.''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sonoma |first=Serena |date=2019-09-14|title=Tracey Africa, Model 'Pose's Angel Is Based On, Rejected by 'Playboy' |url=https://www.out.com/transgender/2019/9/14/tracey-africa-model-poses-angel-based-rejected-playboy|access-date=2021-09-10 |website=Out.com |language=en}}</ref> * Laverne Cox paid tribute to Tracey Africa as well as other Black women, such as Tina Turner and Beyoncé, in the October 2016 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Mosely|first=Rachel|date=2016-09-06|title=See Laverne Cox Pay Tribute to 3 Icons|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a63605/laverne-cox-role-models-beyonce-tina-turner/|access-date=2021-09-10|website=Cosmopolitan|language=en-US}}</ref> * ''Black on Both Sides: A Racial History of Trans Identity'' by C. Riley Snorton (University of Minnesota Press, 2017) * Carol Jenkins sat down with Tracey Norman for Black America in 2016 to discuss her early career as well as its resurgence.<ref>{{Citation|title=The First Transgendered Model with Tracey Norman |author=Black America|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e267baYqc0k|via=YouTube|language=en|access-date=2021-09-10}}</ref>
==References== <references />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Tracey Africa}} Category:1952 births Category:Transgender female models Category:African-American female models Category:Living people Category:People from Newark, New Jersey Category:African-American LGBTQ people Category:LGBTQ people from New Jersey Category:20th-century African-American women Category:20th-century African-American people Category:21st-century African-American women Category:21st-century African-American people