Essence Under Attack

Beauty & Style Life Writing by admin
Dear Essence Magazine Editor in Chief Angela Burt-Murray,

As a child growing up in a sheltered environment, books were my means of escapism. During summers, while most children went to camps and participated in extra curricular activities, I was home. In the comfortable restraints of my house, I let my eyes demolish anything with written words. Books, magazines and even religious literature were all fair game. I lived through the words of everything that I read. Characters became my friends. I constantly correlated storylines with my own life. I even made up my own stories about some of the people and places I read about.
Some of the literature that caught my young mind, in particular, were books or magazines that had pictures of people like me. Growing up, it meant a lot to see beautiful black people on the covers. And as I got older and truly started developing a different comprehension of what I was reading, it meant a lot to know that black people were behind the construction of the pages. Magazines such as Essence has instilled within me, from an early age, an incredibly pride. It, amongst other factors in my life, helped me understand that the pigments of my skin and the feminine sway of my body was something to be proud of.
Former Editor-in-Chief Angela Burt-Murray
Needless to say, I was like the many other Essence fans that were shocked by the recent selection of Elliana Placas (a white woman) as the head of the fashion department. As a magazine that encouraged black women to take dignity in their bodies, brains, families and communities, I thought the decision was slightly hurtful and a little disappointing. However, when I read the article that you’ve written for thegrio.com, my hurt and disappointment turned into frustration and anger. Mrs. Burt-Murray, if you thought that your opinion piece was supposed to soothe the broken spirits of your readers, then you are greatly misinformed. The pompous, arrogant and faultless nature of your article has spurned nothing but confusion and even more pain.

You owe us a proper explanation.

There is no doubt in my mind that Elliana Placas, who has worked for US Magazine and Oprah’s magazine, is qualified for her job. I believe that you wouldn’t jeopardize the quality of Essence by hiring someone who was an amateur. I cannot help but wonder, though, how many even more qualified black women were passed over for this position? I cannot help but think about all of the reports circling around that Essence searched for someone white in order to expand the audience of the magazine. This piece of gossip, which first surfaced on blog sites such as MediaTakeOut.com and PerezHilton.com, was also supported by Michaela Angela Davis. Davis, a former fashion editor for Essence, took to her Twitter and Facebook pages to express her disappointment with Essence. She gave online urban magazine Clutch an interview where she loosely eluded to this buzz. To me, these rumors are believable since Time Warner completely acquired Essence Communications Partners in 2005. And with less and less people reading and purchasing magazines and newspapers, this would be a great strategy in order to expand.

Essence Magazine 40th Anniversary Cover

 

Unfortunately, Mrs. Burt-Murray, you didn’t use your opinion piece to explain and defend yourself and your magazine against these rumors. You touched on the subject with one or two quick sentences and used the rest of your note to attack critics and justify your decision. We the readers do not want to be attacked for our emotions. We want reasoning and clarification about all of the things that we have heard. And since you did not provide this information, we are left with no other choice but to believe what we hear.

You owe us a proper explanation.

I understand that expansion is a great thing and is necessary for businesses. However, when your business risks the chance of being compromised because of these changes, the necessity has to be questioned. Under these circumstances, expansion backfires; this, I believe, is exactly what’s going to happen with Essence. As a black woman, I want this magazine to continue on with its success. I would love for other cultures to read these pages that I pour over. But I do not want Essence to lose itself in order to gain new readership. This is exactly what readers feel like is happening and it is quite neglectful for you, Mrs. Burt-Murray, to not fully clarify your decision.

You owe us a proper explanation.

It is very irresponsible of you, as the Editor-In-Chief, to use thegrio.com to brag and boost about Essence’s accomplishments instead of tackling the real issue head on. I feel as though you deliberately avoided discussing the current controversy and tried to blind readers with facts about the magazine’s history. Your actions are a bit cowardly and are riddled with guilt. Over the fourty years that Essence has been around, our community doesn’t need to be reminded about all of the amazing things your magazine has done. We are aware of the incredible stories. We are proud of the decades of research that has been done in order to better the lives of blacks. In the midst of you re-informing readers about endeavors of Essence, you added a particularly interesting anecdote about the outrage of hiring a white editor. In terms of the anguish concerning the hiring of Placas and the allegedly lackadaisical attitude that we have about the “real” issues in our culture, you’ve stated, “The things that really are the end of our world apparently aren’t”. Sorry, Mrs. Editor-In-Chief, but this reverse psychology doesn’t work. Are readers suddenly supposed to feel bad for being upset about your choice of Placas, because in your eyes, we didn’t make a stir about some of the contentious topics your magazine covered?

You owe us a proper explanation.

Elliana Placas, Director of Fashion

 

I am also very troubled by the fact that Placas is the editor of the fashion department. While not attacking Placas’ skills, you must know that this is a very controversial department for her to run. There are many men and women of all cultures who are amazing stylists and fashion writers. However, mainstream magazines such as Redbook, Elle and Glamour (which feature some of these stylists and writers) put a big physical insecurity inside the minds of urban women. These magazines are filled with ads that promote very thin women with non-ethnic features. Most of the fashion tips and advice are not helpful or geared towards minorities. In this sense, Essence has always been refreshing and includes fashionable information that urban women can relate to. There is a definite possibility that the hiring of a white fashion editor could risk the amount of relatable information being displayed to minorities.

It bothers me greatly to think that this may be compromised. It bothers me to know that some of these images of beautiful women I have seen in the pages while growing up could be diminished because of an expansion project. It bothers me that one of the magazines that initially encouraged me to embrace myself may not ever do the same to another young girl. It bothers me that Essence could possibly transition into Redbook, Elle or Glamour. And it bothers me that a magazine that is supposed to promote such self-love within our community could begin to promote the self hatred that we have to see in order media outlets. This is another thing, Mrs. Burt-Murray, that you refused to discuss in your article.

You owe us a proper explanation, dammit.

But then again, maybe you don’t.

Maybe you don’t need to discuss some of the issues concerning the selection of Elliana Placas to the loyal readers who have renewed their subscriptions year after year. Perhaps the women who head to newsstands (like myself) to buy copies of your magazines should be told that our emotions are wrong. There are so many girls and young woman who look towards black orientated magazines and think that, no matter how they look or what dire situations they are arising from, that they too can model and they too can write. Perhaps future generations of beautiful youth don’t need any sort of true explanation about your choice.

Mrs. Angela Burt-Murray, I see that you are comfortable with your selection. And I also see that you are comfortable with leaving your readers in the dark. You claimed on thegrio.com that Essence “won’t diminish our love of black women”. Prove it by bringing the real controversies surrounding your choices to light.

Signed,

No Longer an Essence Reader
~Amity Nathaniel