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In a 2012 interview for Vibe, Pepper recalled the heightened fear around the spread of HIV/AIDS and its potential effect on the industry. Pepper’s efforts to establish herself in the industry were not without risks, however. Pepper is one of the most popular Black female porn stars of all time, primarily because her early presence was exponentially greater than that of her predecessor West, and her roles were plentiful and diverse. She’d go on to make over 200 films in her career, which spanned 25 years until 2007, 10 years after she was inducted in AVN’s Hall of Fame. Hailing from Chicago, Jeannie Pepper debuted soon after West in 1982, and became the first African-American woman inducted into the Adult Video News Hall of Fame. For women finding themselves locked out of a number of employment opportunities, the adult film industry provided quick and often steady income to help them keep mouths fed and roofs over their heads. It was still “taboo” for interracial scenes to be filmed, but one could definitely find videos featuring White men getting their chocolate fill from actresses like Desiree West. One would also be hard-pressed to find a scene from the 1970s starring a sista with a bald pubic region, as hairy mons pubi were kind of a big deal back then (ask your mom… or maybe don’t). Earlier films depicted women of all shades and sizes, with everything from kinky Afros to straight press-and-curls to the notoriously extravagant wigs made popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
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“Ebony,” interestingly enough, remains the most commonly used term to categorize adult films featuring primarily Black actors from around the globe. After creating a colorful presence in supporting roles for several films, West retired in 1980, but not without leaving her mark on the industry as a whole and blazing a trail for more porn actors of color to come. With her caramel brown skin, voluptuous curves, and enticing eyes, the “Double D Soul Sister” appeared in Teenage Runaway and quickly became one of the go-to ebony starlets of the time. In 1973, Desiree West became one of the first African-American adult film industry star to be consistently cast in hot and heavy scenes. “Using sex as labor is one way that some Black women, working and middle-class, have been able to survive economically and attain mobility while engaging in work not traditionally associated with wage labor.”- Mireille Miller-YoungĪdult filmmaking is a multibillion dollar industry, and Black women have been working it out and getting their slices of the pie for over 40 years. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Email