Category: Black Excellence

By Tonja Renée Stidhum, The Root What can you say about the legendary Reginald Hudlin? Well, because I can’t let this blog post start without making a Bebe’s Kids reference (Hudlin wrote the screenplay), I’ll just say, his work doesn’t lie…it multiplies! Not only does it multiply, it makes history. According to Variety, Hudlin has been named the first-ever […]

Haynes, a public defender who is running to be the next U.S. representative for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, believes it’s time for a fresh perspective. By Breanna Edwards, Essence Keeda Haynes, a public defender from Tennessee, is one of the Democrats challenging incumbent Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), who has been in office since 2003. And, as […]

With The Old Guard, the Love & Basketball director shows how she’s continuing to fight for Black women in Hollywood. By Olivia Truffaut-Wong, Bustle Gina Prince-Bythewood has been fighting for better representation of Black women onscreen for two decades. She won her first battle with the 2000 release of her directorial debut, Love & Basketball, which starred an all-Black […]

Viola Davis appears on the cover of this month’s issue, the first by a Black photographer, in an image meant to be a protest. By Jessica Testa, The New York Times Until about two weeks ago, Dario Calmese didn’t know he was the first Black photographer to shoot the cover of Vanity Fair. But he […]

By Kerry Flynn, CNN New York (CNN Business)LeBron James wants to tell stories. Now he has $100 million to help him do it. The basketball star and his business partner Maverick Carter announced the formation of a new media company, SpringHill Co., which will be supported by a $100 million funding round. Bloomberg Businessweek, which published the report […]

By Essence Staff, Essence Scroll through to see some of our fave #ESSENCEChallenge photos, then join the movement and create your own ESSENCE cover with our IG filter! Long before it was a trend, Black brilliance shined bright on the cover of ESSENCE and the stories that shaped Black realities were brought to life in […]

By Essence Staff, Essence Jas Waters, best known for being a staff writer on This Is Us and Kidding, has died. She was 39. The news was confirmed by the NBC series. A statement shared on Twitter Wednesday read: “The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing. In our time together, Jas left her […]

The editor joins from the Associated Press, where she oversaw a team of 40 journalists and directed multiformat entertainment coverage for the wire service. Nekesa Mumbi Moody, who has served as global entertainment and lifestyles editor at the Associated Press since 2012, has been named to the top editorial role at The Hollywood Reporter. Moody will […]

When on Monday, January 19, 1981, police officers, a psychologist and a chaplain failed in their bid to dissuade a man from jumping to his death, Muhammad Ali saved the day. On the day, a young black man in flared jeans and a hoodie was perched on a ledge on the ninth floor of a […]