Donyale Luna, a Detroit-born model originally named Peggy Ann Freeman, became the first black woman to grace a Vogue cover when she appeared on the cover of British Vogue in 1966. It would be 8 more years until Beverly Johnson would similarly segregate the cover of American Vogue. Below, check out some (not all) American Vogue covers featuring black models, actresses, and female (y'all have seen that LeBron cover more than enough) athletes. Who do you think will be next?

Remember that Vogue-King Kong controversy that ambushed the media chattering classes back in March? Anna Wintour and Annie Leibovitz were gouged by politically correct knives for repeating a racist and stereotypical image of King Kong and a lady of liberty, making cover star LeBron James look like a screaming ape next to a helpless (though smiling!) Gisele Bundchen. Now that the dust has settled, it’s time to look at how Americans at large viewed the issue. In a word, poorly.

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• Anna Wintour couldn't let that all-black Vogue Italia issue come out without a response, however weak, from American Vogue. [FB]

• Amy Winehouse is as healthy as a 92-year-old woman. [MG]

• Kanye West defends Soulja Boy in his beef with Ice-T, then loses a bit of ground when he applauds the young rappers skills a lyricist and compares him to Nas. [Bossip]

• Is Angela Simmons channeling Nicole Richie/Mary-Kate Olsen? [NB]

• Funny lunch. [CL]

It's no longer just a rumor: Vogue Italia's July issue will only feature black models. Franca Sozzani, the magazine's editor-in-chief, said she wants to highlight the beautiful black girls that "nobody uses."

"We are using a lot of black models, like Iman, not only the models of today – a lot of different girls," she told the Independent. "Maybe in our country it is not the best idea. But I don't care. I think it is not my problem if they don't like it – it's their problem."

ALL-BLACK VOGUE? There's a rumor that Italian Vogue is preparing an issue featuring only black models in hopes that the other Vogue will increase diversity in their issues. Apparently, all the photos have already been shot. Those are all the details for now. [Fashionista]

Thanks holls & Carmen

It's not like Vogue regularly has black people on its cover. Maybe if it did, a lot of would-be critics would shrug off as coincidences the horribly unflattering (and unfair, I think) Jennifer Hudson cover and the latest cover featuring Lebron James and Gisele doing a King Kong and Fay Wray imitation. As it is, many black media and fashion insiders think this is a troubling trend. A handful of experts were polled on the issue by WWD, and most were not amused.

• Roy Johnson, editor in chief of Men's Fitness: "It's a reminder that as African-Americans, we have come very far to have an African-American male featured on the cover of Vogue, but we have very far to go to continue to educate people within our industry regarding the power of images and the potential impact they can have on their readers."

• Helena Andrews, culture editor of Politico.com, contributer to TheRoot.com: "It's not something that people are going to start picketing Vogue for, but it brings up the question of whether people are asking these questions in the editorial meeting of doing the sorts of images that conjure up those sorts of [feelings]. It's clear no one raised their hand during the editorial meeting and said, 'Wait a minute.'" [I'm with Helena -- Lauren]

• Emil Wilbekin, editor in chief of Giant: "That raises my eyebrow as to how African-Americans are portrayed on mainstream magazine covers. You would not show Charlize Theron or Scarlett Johansson screaming."

• Bethann Hardison, modeling and fashion veteran: "Every photograph that they've put of a dark person in recent years has never been good. Jennifer Hudson has her mouth wide open. LeBron James had his mouth wide open. We have other expressions."

• Vogue Spokesperson: "The Shape Issue celebrates athleticism from start to finish. LeBron is on the cover with Gisele because he is a basketball star and he was photographed in that spirit. We think LeBron and Gisele look amazing together on the cover."

Even ESPN, our nation's leading exploiter of young black men, thinks this month's Vogue cover is a little odd:

A black athlete being reduced to a savage is, sadly, nothing new. … LeBron is just the third male ever to appear on Vogue's cover, but it's hard to believe Vogue would have made Brett Favre, Steve Nash or even David Beckham strike his best beast pose. And even if Vogue had, it wouldn't carry the same racial undertones as having a fear-inducing black man paired with a dainty damsel. Too often, black athletes are presented as angry, overly aggressive and overly sexual. Or sometimes, they're just plain emasculated.

• Remy Ma is penniless and forbidden from going on a European tour. And at Christmastime, too! [E!]

• The judge's Christmas present to R. Kelly was a May '08 court date. He's had more than enough time to prepare a strong case, right? [SOHH]

• New Orleans cops were not in the Christmas spirit yesterday. And now the plan to bulldoze the city's projects is going full speed ahead. [AP]

• Christmas came early for the newest Real World cast, which is shockingly, primarily black. [CL]

• Vogue named Venus Williams one of the best-dressed celebrities of 2007. Serena just threw away her Christmas gift and vowed to whip her ass at Wimbledon next year. [C&D]

Two things:

1. Who forgot to give Italian Vogue the memo that Michael Jackson, who's planning a "comeback," as usual, hasn't really been fashion magazine cover material since, oh, around the time this year's current crop of college freshman were born?

ELUSIVE Michael Jackson's wig takes longer to style than a supermodel's. A source told us Jackson, who's rumored to be in New York to shoot a cover spread for Italian Vogue, sat for three hours in the stylist's chair until they perfected his freaky coif. The insider said Jackson has been holed up in a fancy Midtown hotel since Thursday afternoon "with an enormous entourage" and left only once, at 5 a.m., to take part in the 10-hour shoot for the fashion magazine. Reps for Jackson did not return calls.

2. Someone actually spent 3 hours on that mop of hair that could not look more like a wig if it was purchased in a Halloween costume shop? What a thankless job.

[PS]

No, Beverly Johnson wasn't the first black woman on a Vogue cover. That distinction belongs to Donyale Luna (born Peggy Ann Freeman in Detroit), whose wide eye and long fingers graced the cover of British Vogue in 1966.

Donyale Luna was eccentric, rewriting her simple Detroit upbringing for the public and seriously fudging her racial background — she claimed her mom was Mexican, her dad was actually a man named Luna, and her Irish grandmother had married a black interior decorator. She was the toast of Europe for a time. She died in 1979.

Beverly Johnson, who was definitely more of the all-American supermodel type, became the first black woman to grace an American Vogue cover in August of 1974, and her face stayed splashed on the magazines for a decade after.

What's she up to now? Well, in addition to the occasional appearance on ANTM and in Page Six, if you ever have need of an wig, she's your ex-supermodel!