Tracey "Africa" Norman, aka Tracey Africa, is an American fashion model, and the first African-American trans woman model to achieve prominence in the fashion industry.
35 Facts About Tracey Norman
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Originally from Newark, New Jersey, Norman has modeled and been photographed for such publications as Essence, Vogue Italia and Harper's Bazaar India.
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Tracey Norman had a magazine cover and life story spread in New York Magazine.
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Tracey Norman was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1952.
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Tracey Norman was a shy and quiet child, and was the first person in her family to graduate high school.
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Tracey Norman mostly lived with her mother growing up, but for a few years in middle school she lived with her father, which she didn't like.
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Tracey Norman's parents worked a variety of jobs when Norman was growing up, and her mother eventually got a job in the County Food Stamp Department, where she worked for 25 years.
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Tracey Norman had to practice her runway walk a lot because she is mildly bowlegged, but she quickly learned.
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In 1975, Tracey Norman was discovered after going into a photo shoot with fashion photographer Irving Penn, who photographed her for Italian Vogue.
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Tracey Norman was not invited to that photoshoot, but got swept up in the crowd of models and found herself being interviewed by the famous photographer Irving Penn.
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Tracey Norman quickly became a very popular model, and had jobs all over the country.
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Tracey Norman worked for Irving Penn, who promoted her modeling career, and she was billed as the "young Beverly Johnson," which made her very popular in the industry.
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Tracey Norman moved to New York to continue her career, and two years later, she appeared on the box of Clairol's "Born Beautiful" hair color No 512, Dark Auburn.
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Tracey Norman is transgender but kept that under wraps, and landed an exclusive contract with Avon, for a skin care line.
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Tracey Norman mostly preferred to work with white brands, and did not initially want to work for Essence, but she did because she wanted to get her first magazine cover.
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Tracey Norman said that she felt a negative vibe at the moment when the assistant revealed her gender, but immediately afterwards Susan told her everything was ok.
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Tracey Norman went to see her representative Zoli, and he made up an excuse for firing her, saying that her hips were too big, even though she was a size 6.
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Tracey Norman moved back to her mother's house in Newark.
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Tracey Norman worked local Newark shows for a while, and at this time, she decided to move to Paris with two friends who were models.
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Tracey Norman got work at The Palace in Paris, where she and two other models performed as the Supremes.
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Once that contract ended, Tracey Norman found a lack of work in Milan and moved back to New York where she signed with Grace del Marco Agency.
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Tracey Norman ended up taking a job at Show Center, where she performed in a burlesque peep show for trans women.
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Tracey Norman was more popular in the New Jersey ballroom scene.
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Tracey Norman worked with the Ballroom house "House of Africa," starting in 1990, and this is where she gained her middle name "Africa," working in New York and Brooklyn under this name.
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Tracey Norman was very influential in the ballroom scene due to her modeling skills, and other people would try to learn to walk like her.
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Tracey Norman has stated that she was popular because she one of the more darker skinned ballroom competitors, which made her stand out.
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Tracey Norman was eventually voted in as "mother" of the House of Africa, and held this position for two or three years.
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Tracey Norman was so talented that she won prizes from all the ballroom houses, except LeBaija.
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Tracey Norman has won ballroom trophies in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Washington, and Atlanta.
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Tracey Norman has had lots of success in her career since her initial interview with New York Magazine, and has done many interviews and jobs, doing interviews with the London Times, and Marie Claire of South Africa.
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Tracey Norman says the feeling of being different goes back as far as she can remember.
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Tracey Norman had a father who was battling cancer and a family to whom she was afraid to come out.
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Tracey Norman has stated that she remembers buying her first dress at S Klein department store, which was green with floral prints.
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Tracey Norman wore a size 16, later losing a lot of weight.
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Le Joc was very popular among models, and Tracey Norman met many famous models there.