Until this year, only 17 black women had appeared on the cover of the American edition of Vogue which was founded 117 years ago. And one black man, LeBron James, the basketball player who appeared with supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Now with the May edition appearing on magazine racks, that count has jumped to 20 or maybe 21black women depending on how these things are counted. The cover features nine of the hottest young models: (L-R) Liya Kebede, Natalia Vodianova, and Anna Maria Jagodzinska (cover) with Isabeli Fontana, Lara Stone, Jourdan Dunn, Raquel Zimmerman, Caroline Trentini, and Natasha Poly (on fold-out)

Starting with Michelle Obama in March and Beyonce in April, the publication could be out to set a record in 2009.

Now fresh-faced model Liya Kebede (first on the left above) appears on the May cover (and Jourdan Dunn, fourth from the left, top row, appears on the inside flap of May’s fold-out cover).

That makes this the third consecutive month featuring black females on the cover of the iconic fashion magazine.

Before Obama, previous covers featured Naomi Campbell, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry among others.

So is this just a coincidence, or is the publication making up for lost time after years of cries from critics that it didn’t exactly promote the beauty of diversity.

Could be that in a difficult year for all publications that Vogue is looking to broaden it’s appeal. Just another sign that times are changing. Or at least the times at Vogue.