It highlights how ESSENCE Magazine has informed and reflected Black culture in the United States in the last 50 years. | dHNfc1dld0JQMkNnckU
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TVTranscript
00:00 - What is Essence magazine?
00:02 - Essence is beauty.
00:04 - Essence is black culture.
00:06 - Essence is uplifting.
00:08 - It elevated the way we saw ourselves.
00:12 - Were you aware that Essence was founded by
00:14 a poor black woman?
00:15 - Let's talk about that.
00:16 - Essence, a new magazine for the black woman.
00:19 - I remember being asked to be on the cover
00:22 and what a profound honor that was.
00:24 - Once you're on the cover of Essence,
00:26 that's when you have arrived.
00:29 - We knew instinctively that the face of the magazine
00:32 should be a black woman.
00:33 - Black models were not being photographed
00:35 by white magazines.
00:37 - Whatever the white girl is getting,
00:39 this is exactly what I wanted.
00:40 - We at Essence believe black is beautiful.
00:43 - When Essence came along, I could just weep.
00:46 Every page, there I am represented.
00:49 - It was on the level of the other magazines,
00:51 except these people were black.
00:52 - Women had the Bible on their night table and Essence.
00:57 - Ed Lewis created Essence to make money.
01:00 Susan Taylor had this profound calling
01:04 to serve black women.
01:05 - Essence was a company that generated
01:08 huge amounts of cash.
01:09 - Essence Festival brought in $75 million to the city.
01:13 - Ed Lewis always said that he wanted this conglomerate.
01:16 - Her commitment to the magazine
01:18 was her commitment to black women.
01:19 - I've never put myself on a pedestal
01:21 and to be paid to do this too?
01:23 - Did I see editors come out of that office
01:27 with tears streaming down their face?
01:29 You better believe it.
01:30 - He had his hand behind my back,
01:32 trying to put his hand down my pants.
01:34 And won't stop.
01:36 - My former partners decided to mount a takeover.
01:38 For the next two years, we were in a control fight.
01:41 - Essence broke all the rules in the right places.
01:44 - I said, "Susan, I'm a lesbian."
01:46 - Our first black Miss America.
01:49 There's this tremendous backlash
01:50 after some erotic photos of her emerged.
01:53 - I must relinquish my title as Miss America.
01:56 - That's what happens when there's scandal.
01:58 - We were being asked by corporations to remove the cover.
02:01 We said, "We're not gonna do that."
02:04 - The '70s is where black women are finding their voice.
02:07 - The 1980s.
02:08 - Change took place within the magazine
02:10 and within the country.
02:11 - Make America great again.
02:14 - The black woman of the 1990s was fierce.
02:17 - Hip hop is happening and we're feeling ourselves.
02:19 - 2000s, we're singing a different tone.
02:21 - Newsstands are filled with a variety of magazines
02:24 geared toward black women.
02:25 - When Essence sold to Time Inc., that was shocking.
02:28 - I never wanted to sell out to a white institution.
02:31 - It felt like it was who they wanted me to be.
02:34 It wasn't me.
02:34 - We were able to bring it back into black ownership.
02:37 - A rebirth of Essence.
02:40 - Reading Essence magazine,
02:41 we lifted ourselves and lifted each other up.
02:45 - I knew somewhere there was a place for me.
02:47 Essence gave me hope.
02:49 - Essence was revolutionary and still is to this day.
02:53 - Come into the brilliance of your own blackness.
02:56 She who is without essence is without soul.
03:00 - Time of Essence, new series,
03:03 Friday, August 18th at 9/8 central on OWN.
03:05 And stream on Max.
03:07 (upbeat music)
03:09 (upbeat music)
03:12 (upbeat music)
03:14 (upbeat music)
03:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]