essence magazine
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End of an Era: CEO of Essence Communications Michelle Ebanks Steps Down
The leading voice in America’s leading publication for black women is making way for new leadership. On Monday, Essence Communications made the unexpected announcement that as of March 31 its CEO, Michelle Ebanks, will be stepping down from the role she’s held since 2018, prior to which she had been in leadership roles within the…
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‘I Wanted to Show Her as a Woman’: Cynthia Erivo Talks Harriet for Essence's Digital Cover
“Though she be but little, she is fierce!” wrote William Shakespeare, and the phrase proves equally true for fellow Brit Cynthia Erivo, the multitalented phenom currently dominating the box office in the titular role of Harriet, the black-helmed Harriet Tubman biopic, released on Friday. Erivo was handpicked by producer Debra Martin Chase for the role,…
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Keeping It 100: Essence Announces Its 3rd Annual 'Woke 100'
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the wokest of them all? We kid, we kid—no one wants to play the Woke Olympics. But just like us, Essence has some ideas about who the most influential, inspiring folks of 2019 are—femme folks, in this instance—with its third annual Woke 100 List. Framed as a “salute to…
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Essence Announces Move to Expanded, Bimonthly Print Issues
Starting next year, Essence magazine will move from a monthly to a bimonthly publishing schedule, signaling the end of an era while promising that the best is yet to come. In a press release sent out Friday morning, the company announced that it will move to an “enhanced double issue” that will be printed six…
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Tina ‘Knowles’ Black Excellence and Urges Us To Never Dim Our Light
As a people, we’ve been known to make it out on top in some of the most unfortunate circumstances. With all that we have been through, we still manage to find a way to celebrate the beauty that comes with being black. Even when you trod us down into the dirt, still we rise and…
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How to Throw a 25-Year Party: Why Essence Festival Is Your Faves’ Favorite Event of the Year
What makes a great party? No, I mean a really great party; the kind people look forward to, year after year. This Fourth of July weekend, we’re going to find out; we’re traveling to New Orleans to join our play cousins at Essence for the 25th-anniversary celebration of their legendary festival. While it’s not The…
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Luxury Comes Home: At My City, 4 Ways, Law Roach Helped Celebrate the Undefeatable Style of Chicago
With the sometimes troubling narratives spun about Chicago, it can be easy to forget that America’s third largest city is also deeply rich with culture, beauty, style and great taste. But in all its complexity, Chicagoans intimately know how beautiful our city is, which is why even the expats always manage to come home, one…
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Go for the Glow: Alicia Keys Covers Essence's June Issue—and More Famous Faces Get Some Shine!
June is Black Music Month, so it’s fitting that 15-time Grammy winner Alicia Keys is covering Essence’s June issue (with Lizzo starring on the digital version)—though it’s actually themed “The Escape Issue.” In keeping with the theme, Keys, who has famously already broken free of entertainment industry expectations by taking a cleaner approach to beauty,…
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It's a Beautiful Weekend to Be at the Essence Beauty Carnival!
Here at The Glow Up, we are firm believers in taking downtime when and wherever we can get it. But this weekend has presented us an opportunity to turn up that we simply couldn’t miss, as Essence kicks off its inaugural Beauty Carnival tour in New York City on April 27th & 28th! Making the…
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For Essence's Mother's Day Issue, Diddy and Family Pay Tribute to Kim Porter
“Puffy, take care of my babies.” Sean “Diddy” Combs tells Essence that longtime love Kim Porter said those words three days before her sudden death from pneumonia last November, after sending her children to Combs while she recovered from what all believed was the flu. In 2006, the then-couple romantically posed for Essence’s cover; now,…