Why The Aaliyah x MAC Collection Is So Important

Growing up as a Black and Latina teenager in a mostly-white private school in Baltimore, I was self-conscious about my thick hair, bushy eyebrows, and strict parents who wouldn't let me buy the heavy makeup many of my classmates were already wearing. For one "casual dress" day in the eighth grade, when we were allowed to venture outside the confines of our plaid and khaki uniforms, I chose to wear baggy Gap jeans, a Tommy Hilfiger T-shirt, and my brother's Yankees baseball cap backward, with a s...