Black Elegance magazine is like the bastard stepchild of Essence. The stepchild that was sired from a woman with shriveled ovaries. As such, B.E. doesn’t secure A-list celebrities when they are A-list. The trajectory is either early or well after. They usually sell the most when Essence has already sold out. They don’t make the kind of money that Essence makes from ad revenue because they don’t have that machinery behind them as yet. What they do have is a staff of people that are willing to give of their time and their skillsets doing the things they love – writing articles, styling artists and taking photographs. Folks understand that this time is being traded up for the credit and connections that come from building a brand.
Anyhoo, most magazines, even the crappy ones host a launch party where their staff gets a moment to exhale and preview their collective work before the magazine is released to the public. It’s a chance to hobnob and network with other industry people as well. Why do you think that the Editor in Chief at B.E. didn’t invite staffers to the launch event after having them work on the magazine for free. Prah’lee because she had no intentions of honoring the sisterhood agreement she made with them. The people at Black Elegance are just as empty and vapid as the staff at Essence. I had a meeting at the Essence corporate offices with two V.P.’s and four editors and they all agreed that Black Women did not know OR CARE about what the ‘Black Code’ meant. Forget how these magazines treat their staffers for a moment and recognize that their view of their readership is even more disgusting.
With HIV/AIDS still a scourge in America and to African American women more than ever Essence wants to give you a detailed essay on the swinger sex clubs in your neighborhood. Essence and Black Elegance have long ago left the stance of progressive empowerment for women of color. You are only a customer now and they intend to keep you shopping. Essence won’t stop until you are emotionally and financially bankrupt. Their articles claim to tell you what men think, or why he cheats, or why you should. Nothing describes the preservation of the family unit so I should assume that it doesn’t exist in Black families. It does and Essence and Black Elegance have an investment in the opposite. That is why I am asking you not to vote for them this holiday season.
We vote every single day, not just on the first Tuesday in November. We vote every time we go to the grocery store and buy a loaf of bread or a tube of toothpaste. Our dollars co-sign our trust in brands and products that we think will help our quality of life. Please don’t vote for either Essence or Black Elegance since these brands have betrayed the public trust.
damn keep up the good work. I love the dallaspenn.com editorial type of posts like this one. This combination of social commentary, political incorrectness (in a good way), pointing out hypocrisies, and ether, I haven’t found elsewhere on the internets & definitely not in the MSM.
I love how no one is off limits to expose their hypocrisy or bad behavior
If cats like yall made a newsweekly type of magazine, I would cancel the ol USNWR & subscribe.
Keep the “intellectual ether” coming (pause)!
I became disenchanted with Essence years ago. In the same magazine where they will run a series on how black women can improve their credit scores, regain their financial lives and get out of debt to purchase their own home…..they will showcase models wearing a $900 pair of Christian Louboutin shoes while using Creme De La Mer face cream for $150 a jar.
Or like you said, an article on sisters living with HIV will be right next to a “How to attract a man and blow his mind” guide.
*sigh*
here here. let’s get the word out: spending money is a VOTE. november comes around once a year, but we’re voting everyday.
with green.
don’t diss the Creme de la Mer it’s a miracle worker…
Essence stinks from the inside out. I know reputable writers/editors that were so disenchanted with the way in which things were run over there they ran indisgust.
My mother purchased one of their first subscribtions years ago and today it’s fallen victim to the same thing as television. Advertisement pushes content.
I’ve never heard of B.E. so I doubt they will miss my dollar!
okay. word to that shit. i am seriously fed up with all shit that pulls the rug from under collective racial feet. yes, we all know that all races are racist; congratulations (not you dp), tremendous discovery. what of this inner racial diss? i am personally a humanist and i think that all of us need to focus on a. how to become better people and b. how to help others become better people. is this insane? the whole idea of putting tate and berry on the cover is fucking ridiculous (one still obscure and one relevant, respectively). so what is this new mag, a “respectable tabliod”?
what is it that makes race so incredibly important? (please if anyone responds, do not include the obvious)
^race, in regards to skin complexion is a completely ridiculous and abstract construct, but unfotunately, it has given us all something to be preoccupied with while our social security benefits are removed and our ability to own the house with picket fence and 2.5 kids evaporates like water in the Sudan.
supremacy is the enemy of us all. it makes people fear and become jealous of others based on unfounded perceptions. all white are rich, all Blacks are criminals, all asians are bad drivers. these are more than stereotypes, these are the pillars of supremacy. being a humanist is noble, but believe in GOD, YAHWEH, AUM, the ONE with many names and the ONE with no name at all. humanity will too pass, GOD is forever.
The greatest lie the devil ever told is that we are from different races. We are all part of one genus. Sine the over whelming majority of the world cosign to this fallacy I have to operate within the matrix.
I heart this website.
^non-cipher! you choose to cosign the matrix because it is easy and it makes you acceptable. when I get on this site and I ask my friends to take a stand for something it means that we are going to have to make a sacrifice for something bigger than ourselves.
I get very depressed when people tell me that things are what they are and destined to remain that way. I still have hope, call me crazy.
Larenz Tate is one of my favorite actors. I think he Could have been as successful as Denzel if he had the height. All the leading(white) ladies in Hollywood are damn near 6’ft tall. Apart from the Handicapped short people & “ugly” people face more discremination than any other group.
Imagine being Black,short and ugly…Sorry fifth of White Horse got my mind Trippin. Cheers!
I didn’t say I gave in, I said I operate in, such as the company that I work for or the way I have to deal with the mindset of 85 percent of the population. I never take the easy way out. I have hope but I also have to deal with this powerful reality we live in. Sorry if I sound hopeless, I just call it as I see it and tackle it head on.
Okay, glad it ain’t just me. I can’t stand to read Essence, Black Elegance, Ebony, or even Jet and there’s one Black mag that turns my stomach with the ignorance it contains…can’t think of the name of it at the moment but Jamie Foster Brown is the publisher. GARBAGE!!!
*begins the DALLASPENN magazine movement*
The celebration of Sean Combs’ baby incubator on the cover confirmed why I haven’t purchased Essence/Black Elegance since 1995.
Alright so they’re not all that sexy, but
water heaters and showers can definately improve your sex life.
I’m from the old school and I’m very familiar with BE. I remeber Robert Tate and Micheal House they were wonderful people I think the magazine is terrific and should continue just seeing the griowth of this magazine shows me that more work is being put into it.
ps. please forgive the Typo Erros
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