( ) — As part of Black History Month —which is celebrated in February— Google published a doodle to pay tribute to Mama Cax.
By birth called Cacsmy Brutus, Mama Cax passed away on December 16, 2019 at age 30 after spending a week hospitalized after blood clots were discovered in her leg, abdomen, and near an inferior vena cava filter near her lungs (placed after cancer that he was diagnosed in his youth).
However, Mama Cax’s legacy lived on forever as she was someone who shattered beauty stereotypes and helped many black and disabled people feel represented in the fashion industry.
Who was Mama Cax and why is she recognized?
Mama Cax was a model advocate of inclusion in the fashion industry, primarily in support of black and disabled women. She was born on November 20, 1989 in Brooklyn, New York, but she grew up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
When he was 14 years old, he was diagnosed with lung and bone cancer. Due to the disease, two years later he underwent hip replacement surgery, which was unsuccessful and, as a consequence, his right leg had to be amputated.
“At first, Mama Cax was depressed and had a hard time accepting herself with a prosthetic leg, as she wanted it to look realistic and match her skin tone,” says google in his publication in tribute to the black model.
But over time he was accepted as he was. She started wearing covers for her prosthesis and she ended up feeling proud of it.
Not only did she accept her disability, but she also embraced it to fully include it in her style, incorporating “colorful outfits, hair dye and bold makeup.”
“As the body positivity movement grew, Mama Cax realized that black women and women with disabilities were underrepresented on social media. She began posting regularly and advocating for inclusion in fashion and using social media to talk about their bodily insecurities,” adds Google.
Model Mama Cax walks the runway for the Chromat fashion show during ‘New York Fashion Week: The Shows’ at Industria Studios on February 8, 2019 in New York City. (Credit: Noam Galai/Getty Images for NYFW: The Shows)
After taking to social media to advocate for inclusivity in fashion, Mama Cax made her official modeling debut in a 2017 ad campaign and was signed shortly thereafter by Jag Models. Before, in 2016, she had already walked in the first White House fashion show.
In 2018, the Brooklyn-born model was on the cover of Teen Vogue. And on February 8, 2019, Mama Cax debuted on a catwalk at New York Fashion Week, in which she walked again in October of the same year, months before her death.
“The model and activist is remembered for broadening the image of what people with disabilities should be or look like (…). Thank you, Mama Cax, for being a positive example and advocating for inclusion in the world of fashion and beauty,” writes Google.
