As a teenager growing up in Philadelphia, I remember relishing the issues of Ebony and Jet magazines. But how about in May 1970, the launching of the first monthly magazine explicitly targeted for African American women. Imagine the impact of five decades of Black beauty at Essence Magazine?
Essence Magazine debuted in May 1970, is now the oldest Black women’s magazine. Interestingly enough, Black men, not women Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth, and Jonathan Blount founded Essence Communications in 1968.