"I will be leaving Essence to do what at this
juncture in my life has become a larger work for me -- building the
National Cares Mentoring Movement, which I founded as Essence Cares and
today is my deepest passion."
--Susan L. Taylor (From automated email as reported by NY Times -
December 28, 2007)
Susan L. Taylor has been the driving force behind Essence Magazine for almost 4 decades. Taylor, 61, joined Essence in 1970. A fourth-generation entrepreneur, Taylor was the founder of her own company, Nequai Cosmetics, before becoming Essence's fashion and beauty editor and, in 1981, its editor-in-chief.
In 1999 Taylor became the first African American woman
to receive The Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers
of America, the magazine industry's highest honor. In 2002 Taylor was
inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame,
which celebrates the career-long records of excellence, creativity and
impact of a select group of highly influential magazine journalists.
Taylor's visionary leadership was acknowledged when the NAACP presented
her with its first President's Award in 2006. She is an avid supporter
of a host of organizations dedicated to moving the Black community
forward. Her passion and focus are on creating equity in education and
turning around the nation's failing schools, which, she says are "the
pipeline to prison."
Taylor has received more than a dozen honorary degrees from numerous colleges and universities, including Lincoln University, Spelman College, Dillard University, Bennett College for Women, the University of Delaware and her alma mater, Fordham University.
All About Love: Favorite Selections
from In The Spirit on Living Fearlessly
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Hardcover: 212 pages
Publisher: Urban Books (January 29, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601621140
ISBN-13: 978-1601621146
Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.4 x 1 inches
All About Love draws from the breath of writing Susan Taylor has shared with her millions of readers since her first column appeared in Essence. In this collection, she has gathered personal favorites and these of Essence readers. Many are expanded.
Shedding the old, dead skin of anger, bitterness and regret, forgiving ourselves and others, opening our hearts to love and striving to live in harmony with the whole of life are just a few of the themes explored in these inspirational writings.
All About Love is all about relationships, about
active caring and out commitment to personal transformations and social
change, to strengthening our families and communities, to wealth
building, and the commitment to justice and sustaining all God's
children. This long -awaited treasury of writings is about keeping
strong our faith in God in the face of all challenges.
|
Hardcover: 80 pages |
In The Spirit
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Hardcover: 110 pages
Publisher: Amistad (October 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1567430325
ISBN-13: 978-1567430325
Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
Taylor, the editor-in-chief of Essence ,
mixes personal anecdotes, black pride and an upbeat spirituality in
these brief essays, many of them reprinted from her magazine. Though the
wisdom she dispenses is hardly original, her direct style and warmth
should reach her target audience of African American women. "We'll never
feel content if our happiness depends on someone else's behavior,"
Taylor writes, noting that she has learned to measure success not by
wealth but through "happiness, personal satisfaction and being of
service to others." Her most powerful essays are the most
self-revealing: in one clearly painful recollection, she concludes that
her father's furious reaction to her surreptitious meeting with a young
man humiliated her but may ultimately have saved her. "What I felt was a
shameful experience that put a damper on my sexuality actually prevented
me from becoming pregnant as a teenager." Although Taylor regularly
invokes a Christian God, that God is nondenominational and her
exhortations are not to doctrine but to a more personal faith. 'Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Confirmation: The
Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives
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Amazon
co-authored with husband, Khephra Burns
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Anchor; 1 Anchor edition (January 19, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385483783
ISBN-13: 978-0385483780
Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom
That Has Shaped Our Lives is a very personal collection of
inspirational writings gathered by the husband and wife team of Khephra
Burns and Susan L. Taylor from more than a hundred different sources,
representing the wisdom of diverse cultures throughout the world that
have helped to shape their spiritual life. Introduced by a moving essay
describing Susan and Khephra's spiritual coming-of-age, and informed by
scores of narrative bridges by the authors explaining and annotating the
selections they include, the collection spotlights the wisdom of the
ages that has been at the core of the author's spiritual growth over the
past twenty years.
Organized under a dozen different subject areas, from love and
forgiveness to fear, death, prayer and meditation, this enthralling
collection includes passages not only from the traditional sacred texts
of the world's major religions--the Bible, the Koran, the Torah,
Bhagavad Gita and the teachings of Buddha-but from African proverbs and
the writings of animists, mystics, poets, seers and songwriters
elucidating the oneness of being. Among the authors included are
Christian mystic Howard Thurman, Maya Angelou, Kahlil Gibran, Deepak
Chopra, Sufi mystic Jalal al-Din Rumi, Black Elk, Lao-Tzu, Buddhist monk
Thich Nhat Hanh, John Coltrane, African shaman Malidoma Some, and many
more.
Confirmation is a rich and varied treasury of spiritual delights
that will be nothing less than a sacred feast to Susan Taylor's devoted
fans and followers.
Lessons in Living
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Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Anchor (January 20, 1998)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385483791
ISBN-13: 978-0385483797
Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
Taylor, editor-in-chief of Essence
magazine, in this new collection of inspirational writings, develops
themes that marked her earlier book, In the Spirit, a collection of her
popular columns. Intermingled with personal details of career, divorce,
parenting and remarriage are Taylor's strategies for finding inner peace
amid the stress of contemporary living. Borrowing from diverse cultural
and religious traditions and emphasizing the necessity of honoring
oneself, Taylor espouses a practical spirituality: "Life is our
finishing school." When she describes the spiritual armor she dons each
day in her busy life, she projects a quiet assurance that has won her a
wide audience, particularly in the black community. This affirmative
philosophy is attractively packaged with ruled blank pages at the end
for readers' personal use. 100,000 first printing; author tour; first
serial to Essence; Literary Guild alternate. 'Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Essence: 50 of the Most Inspiring
African-Americans
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by Patricia M. Hinds (Author), Susan L. Taylor (Author)
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Essence; Rev Upd edition (January 3, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933405295
ISBN-13: 978-1933405292
Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.7 inches
Essence Books presents a revised and
updated edition of its popular 2002 hardcover that sold over 40,000
copies.50 of the Most Inspiring African-Americans features dynamic
profiles of some of today's most influential, powerful, and, above all,
inspiring African-Americans. This is a coffee table soft cover that
features people of color who are breaking barriers in political,
educational, business, and entertainment arenas, as well as those
building up their communities. This exquisite 160-page book includes
more than 100 stunning photographs. Includes some of the most inspiring
African-Americans of present day role models, icons, and innovators who
are changing our world, are in the news, and are making a difference on
both national and grass-roots levels Profiles include such well-known
and respected people as Maya Angelou, Will Smith, Denzel Washington,
Barack Obama, Condoleeza Rice and Tyra
Banks Essence magazine sells over 1 million copies per issue and has
approximately 8 million loyal monthly subscribers Essence 50 of the Most
Inspiring African-Americans hardcover edition currently has over 57,000
copies in print
Black Men: In Their Own Words
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Hardcover: 252 pages
Publisher: Crown; 1st edition (May 14, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0609603663
ISBN-13: 978-0609603666
Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.4 x 0.8 inches
Adult/High School-More than 90 black men
from a wide variety of backgrounds, professions, and age groups share
their insights with readers. Nine chapters address themes of manhood,
passion, the arts, family, friendship, success, choices, the Civil
Rights Movement, and legacies. Each one, prefaced with a poem by Amiri
Baraka, features the personal experiences and ideas of several men on
the selected theme. Black-and-white photographs appear throughout.
Captions next to the pictures briefly summarize the men's professional
achievements, but the focus of the book is on their words of wisdom on
how to live life, achieve goals, and contribute to the well-being of
others. Teens will be familiar with most of the athletes and performing
artists included, but they may be less familiar with astrophysicist Neil
deGrasse Tyson, former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder, and the
University of Maryland's president, Freeman A. Hrabowski III. Authors,
businessmen, visual artists, ministers, and others who have broken down
barriers to progress and helped improve our society are all featured.
The examples of what these men have achieved combined with the impact of
the stories that they share make for powerful inspirational reading.
'Joyce Fay Fletcher, Rippon Middle School, Prince William County, VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Wisdom of the
Ages: Extraordinary People Ages 19-90
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by Patricia M. Hinds (Author), Susan L. Taylor (Contributor)
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Time Inc. Home Entertainment (January 1, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932273166
ISBN-13: 978-1932273168
Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
For more than 30 years, Essence has been the voice of African-American women. Throughout these years, Essence has collected and shared the wisdom of African-Americans-famous or not-on a wide range of issues. Now, in one book, Wisdom of the Ages offers advice on celebrating life to the fullest and dealing with it's most important issues. The book is organized with profiles of people and their words of wisdom. Whether it's Halle Berry speaking about overcoming obstacles, or Samuel and LaTanya Jackson discussing their intimate relationship, this book gives the reader an in-depth look at the fascinating stories of these interesting people from ages 19 to 90. Both men and women will want this book on their coffee table or their bookshelf as an inspiring reference to a fulfilling life.
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number: Black Women Explore
Midlife
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Carleen Brice Editor & Contributor
ISBN: 0807028231
Number Of Pages: 252
Publication Date: May 15, 2003
Publisher: Beacon Press
"Age Ain't Nothing but a Number is my roadmap." --Iyanla Vanzant
Forty-five black women writers "known and new" discuss midlife in the first anthology of its kind.
Finally, a collection that celebrates, considers, contemplates, even criticizes "midlife" from a black woman's point of view. Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ranges over every aspect of black women's lives: personal growth, family and friendship, love and sexuality, health, beauty, illness, spirituality, creativity, financial independence, work, and scores of other topics.
Midlife today isn't your grandmother's "change of life." Today, black women call hot flashes "power surges," and menopause, the "pause that refreshes." These days, middle-aged women may be newlyweds or new mothers, as well as grandmothers or widows. They may experience the empty-nest syndrome and then the "return-to-the-nest syndrome" as adult children move back home. They may navigate the field of Internet dating, travel the world, teach homeless women, take up pottery, or study international business.
This anthology captures all of these aspects of midlife as experienced by some of the finest voices in African-American writing today. Featuring the work of Maya Angelou, J. California Cooper, Pearl Cleage, Nikki Giovanni, Susan L. Taylor, Alice Walker, and dozens of others, Age Ain't Nothing but a Number will make readers think, laugh, and cry and will be the perfect gift book for spring.
bio: excerpted, in part from, Essence Magazine's Website
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