Essence Magazine

Aug 23 2012

Set for Nov. 8-11 in Montego Bay, Jamaica

A significant boost to international trade between the Caribbean and North America and opening of new business opportunities for the Caribbean Diaspora are on the list of major goals of the 17th Annual Caribbean Multi-national Business Conference, which is scheduled to be held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, from Nov. 8-11, 2012.

Gail Choice  |   OW Contributor
Jul 26 2012

Hollywood by Choice

A recent article in the August issue of Essence magazine got me to thinking about how little Hollywood has changed when it comes to casting Black women in film and television productions, specifically in regards to the darker-skinned Black woman.

Actress Nia Long and her two sons grace the cover of the magazine, and it is her comment in the cover story that clicked that certain something in my mind. She told writer Dream Hampton that, “I was the first Brown girl from my generation who got cast in lead roles.”

Sep 9 2011

The rate of teen pregnancy remains disproportionately high among African American teens

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Black youth report considerable pressure to have sex, according to a new survey of 1,500 Black youth ages 13-21 released by ESSENCE Magazine and The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. Of those who have had sex, 47% of those 13-21 (including 21% of those 13-15) say they have been pressured to go further sexually than they wanted to. The groundbreaking results are featured in the October issue of ESSENCE magazine.

Kianna Shann  |   OW Contributor
Jun 30 2011

Three designers show how they made it

Once dominated by fair skin, fashion is an industry that is growing into a multicultural world embracing all nationalities, (although it may seem like a slow embrace). African American designers are among those moving toward the front of the fashion equality line.

These designers have proven they have what it takes to rise against the odds, and stand firm in a world driven by glamor, luxury, beauty and crossover appeal to the contemporary market.

Jan 13 2011

Debate over changing a classic

Who could have guessed that Huck Finn’s bad-boy antics would cause problems 125 years after he sprang from the fertile mind of author Mark Twain? What has Huck done now? Well, it’s not so much what he’s done as what he said—in this case, his liberal use of the n-word. Publisher NewSouth, Inc., spurred on by members of academia, has decided to revise the classic novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by excising the word. The edited version is due to hit bookstores in mid-February.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.