Essence Literary Awards
Jill Scott on the cover of the May 2010 issue of Essence
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| Editor | Vanessa Bush |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Total circulation (2011) |
1,050,013 |
| First issue | May 1970 |
| Company | Essence Communications (Time Inc.) |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Website | essence |
| ISSN | 0014-0880 |
Essence is a monthly magazine for African American women between the ages of 18 and 49. It is the only magazine that focuses on reaching an audience of black women, revolves around the black woman experience, and has remained for a long period of time. The magazine covers fashion, lifestyle and beauty, with an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend tone, and its slogan "Fierce, Fun, and Fabulous" suggests the magazine's goal of empowering African-American women. The topics the magazine discusses range from celebrities, to fashion, to point-of-view pieces addressing current issues in the African-American community. A number of its readers engage closely and personally with the publication, and it claims to be the magazine "for and about Black women."
Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth and Jonathan Blount founded Essence Communications Inc. (ECI) in 1968, and it began publishing Essence magazine in May 1970. Lewis and Smith called the publication a "lifestyle magazine directed at upscale African American women." They recognized that black women were an overlooked demographic and saw Essence as an opportunity to capitalize on a virtually untouched market of black women readers. Its initial circulation was approximately 50,000 copies per month, subsequently growing to roughly 1.6 million.Gordon Parks served as its editorial director during the first three years of its circulation.
In 2000, Time Inc. purchased 49 percent of Essence Communication inc, a publishing company that publishes magazines aimed at African-American women, namely Essence and Suede magazines. In 2005 Time Inc. made a deal with Essence Communication Inc. to purchase the remaining 51 percent it did not already own. The deal placed the ownership of the 34-year-old Essence magazine, one of the United State's leading magazines for women of color, under white ownership.
In "Black Womanhood: Essence and its Treatment of Stereotypical Images of Black Women," professors explained that diverse images of black women are not often included in white magazines and media but that those black women can see themselves in different lights in Essence. The magazine features sections called Celebrity, Fashion, Beauty, Hair, Love, and Point-of-View. The magazine has covered topics from family, to social issues in the African-American community, African-American women in the military, and being HIV positive. Celebrities including Michelle Obama and Whitney Houston have appeared on the cover and been featured in the magazine through interviews and photo spreads. Originally launched primarily as a fashion magazine, Essence has grown to be a guideline for African-American women in many aspects of life.
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