Time of Essence | show | 2023 | Official Trailer - video Dailymotion

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It highlights how ESSENCE Magazine has informed and reflected Black culture in the United States in the last 50 years. | dHNfc1dld0JQMkNnckU

Transcript

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]

Time of Essence | show | 2023 | Official Trailer

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