WELCOME BACK TO BLACK !!!
On Wednesday, the independently Black-owned company Essence Ventures acquired Essence Communications from Time Inc., making the iconic brand 100 percent Black-owned for the first time in two decades.
The magazine was purchased by the founder of Sundial Brands and owner of Shea Moisture Richelieu Dennis, who seeks to use this as an opportunity to serve and empower women of color. Run by an executive team of women of color, Essence president Michelle Ebanks said, “This acquisition of Essence represents the beginning of an exciting transformation of our iconic brand as it evolves to serve the needs and interests of multigenerational black women around the world.”
The Source Magazine Owner and Publisher L. Londell McMillan is glad to see that Essence is Black-owned once again:
“As a major magazine (print and online) owner of color and as the publisher of The NorthStar Group (The Source and Jones Magazines), I salute Essence for joining forces with Black-owned investors to return home to the true essence of the Black experience.
Essence is an important brand to our community. For many years as a young boy I would stack Essence magazines in my mother’s independently owned beauty salon. Many years later, it was an honor to have the opportunity to assist Ed Lewis and Susan Taylor with advancing the Essence Music Festival by bringing Prince to his very first Essence performance.
As one of the only Black-owned magazine and digital properties in publishing today with a national circulation that delivers quality content to our community, we fully understand the challenges and constitution it takes to stand alone without a big corporate parent. The challenges will come, but we are proof that these challenges can be surmounted. Our community needs free and independent voices. Our economy needs professional and independent businesses. Welcome home and Happy New Year Beloveds.”
L. Londell McMillan, Esq. (Owner/Publisher)