Dawn Montgomery was an aspiring model from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, who attended college in Atlanta and later became an example of black beauty.
In 2004, she embarked on her modeling career, appearing in fashion and hair campaigns and even landing images and spreads in magazines, including the iconic Jet Magazine.
Montgomery says the setup was better than she expected, as she landed the Jets’ Beauty of the Week spread just four years later.
Before Instagram and Myspace, Jet magazine helped define Black beauty. Its “Beauty of the Week” feature showcased Black women from all walks of life, and it meant way more than likes or reposts.
Montgomery, who appeared in the June 30, 2008, issue, told Atlanta Black Star why Jet magazine celebrates Black beauty in a way social media still doesn’t.
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The Jet “Beauty of the Week” feature ran from 1951 to 2014, spotlighting everyday Black women — from nurses and students to professionals — in swimsuits.
It celebrated Black beauty and confidence and became a cultural phenomenon, with many readers skipping the cover and flipping straight to the centerfold.
Montgomery picked up modeling around the age of 20 and quickly became a regularly booked model for what some companies call “urban modeling” between the early 2000s, and 2010s.
Rise up former JET Magazine “Beauty of the Week” this story is for us!!! #throwback #page43 @JET https://t.co/xIF6ns82n4 pic.twitter.com/77qupGNVZh
— Dawn (@_dawnmontgomery) June 25, 2024
“During that little 10-year gap, there was this shift in the type of modeling we were doing was urban modeling, like the majority of us were either doing music videos or hair campaigns and commercials,” Montgomery says.
She added, “That was the only time that we really could like kind of basically cross over into more commercial work versus just being strictly urban, and just doing like videos and like magazine features and spreads.”
Montgomery went on to do campaign ads for T.I.’s Akoo clothing, PZI Jeans, Seagram’s Gin, and music videos for Ludacris and Bow Wow, to name a few.
But she’s most proud of being named Jet “Beauty of the Week” in 2008 — a gig she booked after getting a call from photographer Raquel Riley Thomas.
“You think it’s such a grueling process or what have you,” Montgomery began. “But it was really one of those things where you get a call and someone says, ‘Hey, I may want to shoot you for Jet ‘Beauty of the Week.’ And I don’t know if they’ll take my submission or not.”
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At a time when mainstream magazines largely excluded Black women, the feature offered a rare, visible celebration of Black femininity and beauty in all shades and shapes.
After appearing in 2008 issue, Montgomery’s mother proudly carried the magazine to church and showed it off.
She laughed while recalling how seriously people took Jet’s “Beauty of the Week” honor, joking that her family “took their Jets to church.” Members and even pastors would ask for signed copies of the magazine.
Looking back, the model said Jet ‘Beauty of the Week represented “the pinnacle of Black beauty” and showed how deeply the Black community rallies behind its own: “When our community supports you, they support you no matter what.”
Unlike on social media, she said the team behind Jet and the photographers who submitted their photos weren’t chasing a particular look or aesthetic.
“I think they were just looking for more Black women. I think the beauty of Jet Beauty of the Week and just that process as a whole is that you saw a variety of Black women, and I think that’s where we are now in 2026,” she explained.
“We’re still looking for representation. We’re looking to see us in different forms. Different careers, different spaces,” Montgomery continued, adding, “Jet Beauty of the Week was literally showing you beauty, like this is us.
The now-mom and wife of three said she was hesitant at the time of her shoot, given she still had a “mommy belly” and “stretch marks” from giving birth to her son, who was 4 at the time.
Still photographer Thomas thought the model looked even more beautiful in a lime-green two-piece bathing suit, which she ended up altering for a spicier look.
“In that moment, when she did the crisscross, I was like, OK, this is going to be iconic. This is my moment, like this is for me,” Montgomery recalls.
Her initial Jet magazine appearance led to another feature years later, this time highlighting her marriage to her then-husband, Reginald Greene.
“I think that’s what was so important about them not having specifications or anything that they could like, kind of put parameters on. Like you could be married, you could be divorced, you can be single, you be a single mother, you could be this, that, and the third. You could be all of these things and still be a Jet Beauty of the week,” Montgomery added.
Montgomery currently works as an award-winning journalist, culture critic, media strategist, and storyteller whose work explores the intersections of culture, entertainment, sports, social impact, and Black identity.
