THE CAST OF ‘FOR COLORED GIRLS’ DO ‘ESSENCE’

A special group of women have been selected for Essence magazine’s December issue, on newsstands November 12.

The cast of Tyler Perry‘s new movie For Colored Girls graces the cover in an array of colourful gowns.

Thandie Newton (orange), Kimberly Elise (silver), Phylicia Rashad (peach), Anika Noni Rose (yellow), Kerry Washington (blue), Loretta Devine (green), Janet Jackson (red), Tessa Thompson (purple) and Whoopi Goldberg (white) sat for the exclusive portrait for the magazine’s 2010 Hot List issue.

Anika (of Princess and the Frog fame) says she has high hopes for the movie, which is adapted from playwright Ntozake Shange‘s 1974 Broadway hit for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.

“I want this film to awaken people to the power of Black actresses,” she says. “I want people to know there are things that Black women go through that aren’t slavery or hip-hop. I want people to know Black women as Americans.”