Essence Editor Says She Was Fired

http://naturallymoi.com/2013/03/news/essence-editor-says-she-was-fired-it-wasnt-what-i-expected-at-all/

Essence Editor Says She Was Fired; “It wasn’t what I expected at all”

March 8, 2013 Filed under News Posted by Staff

It seems that Essence Magazine is no longer about empowering and inspiring Black women. Constance C.R. White is the former Editor of Essence magazine and she has let the cat out of the bag. She shares that she did not leave the top Black women’s magazine of her own accord but was actually let go because she disagreed with the direction the magazine was going.

According to White, when Time Inc took over the magazine, which was previously Black owned, they increasingly made an effort to “limit the way black women were portrayed.” White says that she disagreed with this new direction and constantly had disagreements with her bosses and they eventually told her that they were letting her go.

“I went in there with passion and excitement and high expectations,” White told Journal-isms, referring to her 2011 hiring. “It wasn’t what I expected at all.  What needs to happen is the reader is getting lost and the reader has to be at the center. To make their world smaller is unacceptable,” White said by telephone. “A lot of the readers have sensed” what is happening, she said.

Essence, the nation’s leading magazine for black women, was originally black-owned but has not fared well under Time Inc. ownership, White maintained. Nelson [Martha Nelson, the editor-in-chief of Time Inc.] vetoed such pieces as a look at African American art and culture, and “I was not able to make the creative hires that needed to be made,” White said.

White’s story adds additional doubt to the notion that Essence can be considered a legitimate advocate for black women when black women are not being allowed to make key decisions for the magazine.  This was the concern for millions of readers when the magazine was purchased by Time Inc.  Since the merger took place, the content became lighter and less-controversial in tone, focusing on a steady staple of relationship advice, beauty tips, and more advertising than ever before.

She elaborated by email, “When was the last time you saw Essence in the community advocating for or talking with Black women?

“No more T-shirts with a male employee’s face on it being distributed at the [Essence] Festival.”

Essence announced White’s departure in a terse statement on Feb. 8. No explanation was given.

A New Paradigm for Black America. Chicago, IL March 30, 2013

Wealth, Education, Family and Community: A New Paradigm for Black America

Although we as African Americans were officially granted our freedom nearly 150 years ago, many of us do not feel truly free.  Some of us get up and go to jobs that we do not enjoy, working for people who don’t like us very much.   Then, when those companies feel that we’ve gotten out of line or they don’t need us anymore, we are sent out the door.

There is also a great deal of frustration with regard to how our kids are being educated, and the violence that has taken too many young lives in our community.   Mass incarceration has ripped the black family to its core and an entire industry has been built from the prison industrial complex.

The solutions must lie with us.  Taking charge of our individual and collective future requires a set of coordinated strategies that relate to how we build resources, protect our resources and target those resources.  Education must become a leading priority that goes beyond what our children learn in school everyday.  We must recommit ourselves to building and supporting black businesses, strengthening our families and sustaining our communities.

The future belongs to us.

Wealth, Education, Family and Community: A New Paradigm for Black America is a forum hosted by Min. Louis Farrakhan and Dr. Boyce Watkins. Min. Farrakhan and Dr. Watkins will discuss the need for a shift in the way people of color think about building wealth, pursuing education and challenging the obstacles to progress which exist in black America today.  The forum will be exciting, engaging and fulfilling, with the presentation of long-term strategies for African American socio-economic progress and sustainability.

The next step of the Civil Rights Movement must go beyond voting for the right politician.

When: Saturday, March 30, 2013, 5 PM CST, doors open at 4 PM
Where: The UIC Forum on the campus of The University of Illinois at Chicago – 725 W Roosevelt (on the corner of Halsted and Roosevelt)
Cost: Free and open to the public

Note: You must RSVP on this form in order to attend the event.

RSVP for the event at this link.