Tyra Lynne Banks known as Tyra Banks; was born on December 4th, 1973, in Inglewood, California. She is the daughter of Caroline London, a NASA photographer, and Donald Banks, a computer consultant. She is 79% African, 14% British and 6% Native American ancestry. She has an older brother, named Devin who is five years older to her. In 1979, when Tyra was six years old, her parents divorced. This normally leaves a negative impact on most children; however, Tyra took it in a positive way. Tyra mentions to the media “I stayed with Mommy on the weekdays and Daddy on the weekends. I had two birthday parties, two Christmases. Double the presents, double the love." Hence, since childhood, Tyra Banks had a very positive mindset. Tyra Banks attended John Burroughs Middle School and graduated in 1991 from Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles. While growing up, it was not easy for Tyra Banks. She mentions that she was often bullied …show more content…
She had the confidence in herself and wanted to prove to society that there can be more than one top black model – which she did in 1997. Even though Tyra received much fame in her career, gender and color played a huge factor. Racism was a big issue in the 1990s as Tyra was often told her look is “too ethnic” or we already have one black model and do not need another. Hence, this had an impact on Tyra, as she did not receive success and acceptance instantly since she was part of the minority society, as many modeling agencies would prefer a white to hire instead of another black