Troy

Essence Ventures Announces Acquisition of Essence Communications from Time Inc. January 03, 2018 01:53 PM Eastern Standard Time NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essence Ventures LLC, an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community and commerce, today announced its acquisition of multi-platform media company Essence Communications Inc. from Time Inc. ESSENCE President Michelle Ebanks will continue at the helm of the company and will also join its board of directors. In addition, the all Black female executive team of ESSENCE, including Ebanks, will have an equity stake in the business. “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 in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms” “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 in an even more elevated and comprehensive way across print, digital, e-commerce and experiential platforms,” said Ebanks. “In addition, it represents a critical recognition, centering and elevation of the Black women running the business from solely a leadership position to a co-ownership position.” Through the Essence Ventures’ investment and resulting incremental growth opportunities, ESSENCE will focus on expanding its digital businesses via distribution partnerships, compelling original content and targeted client-first strategies. In addition, the brand will expand its international growth by planting its rich content ecosystem, including the flagship magazine, digital properties and successful live event franchises, in more global markets with women who have shared interests and aspirations. “The strategic vision and leadership that Michelle has provided to ESSENCE over the years have been exemplary, and we are thrilled to work with her and her talented team to provide the necessary resources and support to continue to grow the engagement and influence of the ESSENCE brand and transform this business,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder and chairperson of Essence Ventures. “As importantly, we are excited to be able to return this culturally relevant and historically significant platform to ownership by the people and the consumers whom it serves and offer new opportunities for the women leading the business to also be partners in the business.” Dennis continued, “We remain committed to leveraging our resources to provide opportunities for other culturally-rooted entrepreneurs and businesses that further our culture and create economic opportunities for our communities. Our focus here will be on ensuring that Essence reaches its full potential via heightened capabilities, technology, products and touch points that super-serve the interests of Black women locally and globally. We look forward to helping generate new opportunities that create more value across the ESSENCE portfolio with unmatched content, commerce and international access for the millions of women it serves, as well as exceptional value for our advertising partners and content creators.” Since its founding in 1970, ESSENCE has been a hallmark for women’s empowerment and a cultural beacon of pride and celebration of the diverse images and lifestyles of Black women. Today, ESSENCE is an international, omni-channel destination for diverse storytelling and original content comprising beauty, fashion, lifestyle, entertainment and culture. “ESSENCE has always embodied and evangelized what the world now sees – the sheer beauty, power and magic of Black women,” said Ebanks. “From her influence in politics and at the polls, mandate for social justice, and demand for economic inclusion to her impact on beauty culture, leadership in equal rights efforts, and catalyzation of community empowerment, she is at the forefront – driving the cultural phenomena that are positively changing the world. ESSENCE will continue to lead that charge with, for and beside her as the unparalleled platform for her voice.” ESSENCE currently reaches a global audience of more than 16 million across its various platforms encompassing its signature print magazine; digital, video and social platforms; television specials, including the Black Women in Hollywood Awards on OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network; books; and live events, including the Street Style Block Party during New York Fashion Week and the annual ESSENCE Festival, a cultural celebration that debuted in 1995 and is now one of the country’s largest annual events, attracting more than 450,000 attendees. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. About Essence Ventures Essence Ventures is an independent African-American owned company focused on merging content, community and commerce to meet the evolving cultural and lifestyle needs of women of color. The company began in 2017 and is chaired by its founder – entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Richelieu Dennis. Contacts Essence Ventures Latraviette Smith-Wilson latraviette@ngmventures.com or Janice McCafferty PR janice@janicemccaffertypr.com jessica@janicemccaffertypr.com 773-736-9034

Again the sterotypes are killing your reasoning pioneer. The quote of yours that Cynique disputed is absurd on its face. As far as a traditional African cultures that accepted homosexuality and was not influenced by islam or judism... try all of them.

Actually 1,400 is nothing to sneeze at. If you can get more than 1,000 people to do anything every month you have an impact, and it is enough to drive much more. By the way the traffic that you get from AALBC.com is largely due to your efforts. If other authors utilized the platform in that manner than you did, then impact would be even greater. It is one of those scenarios when more authors take advantage of the website, the more they benefit. I just started another website for a new author: Shari Farmer-Ogogo: chariogogo.com If 1,000 authors used AALBC.com as their primary web presence instead of Facebook or Amazon (now the two most popular alternatives to a dedicated website based upon my anecdotal observations), I could provided more free services to authors and and greater information to readers. I'll create the widget. Are you thinking about a seal or something similar? #readingblack

Wait, what?! First @Delano and @Pioneer1 engage in an online bromance, and now Pioneer and Cynique are showing signs of being converging to the same wavelength. 2018 does look like it will be an interesting year!

Pioneer your fixation on the artificial construct of race and the associated misguided stereotypes create a bias in your reasoning. Obviously Black people in America, indeed all over the world, are influenced by western (white) culture. But that does not have anything to do with rates of homosexulaity occuring in the population. It does however influence our collect condemnation of homosexuals through, I suspect, our brand of Christianity. As Cynique indicated, science is showing people are born this way. It will however take time a long time for homosexulaity to become more universally accepted, probably as long as it will take people to dispense with racial-driven stereotypes.

Man I started to listen to the video, which is just audio, and it is 45 minutes long. She did not open up with anything compelling enough to entice me to invest the time to listen to the entire recording. But in a lot of ways I agree with both of you; on the surface the political correctness that seems so important to millennials is really a false front to less honesty, more tribalism, increased filter bubbles and less true communication. Millennials overshare on social media creating a false facade of who they really are, primarily motivated by slick marketers who have addicted these adults on psychometricly timed rewards in the form of likes and shares. The nuances of flirting, genuine complements, or even constructive criticism is lost on these folks who spend their time communicating with each other behind a handheld screen which prevents them from truly knowing each other.

Fingers crossed Happy New Year!

Great editorial. Looking forward to hear what @Delano has to say.

Well the strategy is to create a market so that more product can be sold. If that means convincing women with straight hair that they look better with curly hair, or women with curly hair that they look better with straight hair, and that they all will look better with hair of a different color then they are happy. All that racial, self-hate stuff you mentioned @Pioneer1, is incidental. What has been an amazing trick getting women to justify all of these gyrations marketers have imposed upon them as somehow empowering. Whether it is the hair care products, the makeup, the completely dysfunctional high heal shoes, or any of the stuff women are forced to deal with, and the end of the day it is really about profit. I have throw away more working TV's and computer monitors than I care to admit. We have all be placed on a hamster wheel of consumption. The idea that Apple was deliberately making older phones slower comes as no surprise the users of technology, what is surprised is that people are still lining up to buy stuff from them. We all know this planned obsolescence is art of their business model. F#ck Apple.

LOL @Pioneer1! There were plenty of shrimps in the gumbo man! I actually took this shot to text to people back up north. My people are from the "deep" south brother, trust they get down in the kitchen and I can cook too ;-) in fact before the kids got grown, moved out, and I split with their momma, I did all the cooking.

“At Hakim’s Bookstore in West Philadelphia, there are signs of life for what is believed to be the oldest black-owned bookstore in the country. Only a couple of years ago, the store was near death’s door.” Read the rest of Valerie Russ’ article at The Philadelphia Daily News. #readingblack Yvonne Blake took over Hakim’s Bookstore (Photos credit: Geneva Heffername)

@harry brown, thanks! I'm in Shreveport with family. My aunt is a great cook. She server up some gumbo last night that was off the chain.

I did not get to the edits now I'm traveling spending time with fam in the deep south, but I have them and will get to them. Thank again, so much for the feedback.

@Kalexander2, say man send me you bio a headshot and the isbn of any previous books you written I'll create a page on aalbc.com if you like.

Well if all it takes is another season of Game of Thrones to keep you kick in then I hope they push it back until 2050. That seems so crazy that we have to wait till 2019 to see what happens with that series. You better hope the actor who plays Jon Snow does not get caught up in some sexual abuse scandal before then Merry Christmas everyone

Precisely another tactic they all use is abandoning software especially operating systems and hardware. I took all of my CDs and burned them into Itunes on my PC and synced that library with a 160 Ipod which I've had now over 10 years. A couple of years ago my primary computer a desktop crashed. No problem all of my music as well as new purchases from Itunes was on my Ipod--thousands of songs, home videos, movies, pods casts, a ton of stuff. Well a purchased a new laptop and installed Itunes. Do you know Apple would not allow me to import my library to my computer!? They flat out will not provide you with software, help, or even a clue how to do it!? All of my shit was trapped on a 10 year old IPod that uses a miniature hard drive as the storage medium so you know the device's days were numbered along with all of my precious family videos digitized from VHS tapes. Just this week I found some software I had to pay $40 for, but it will take files from anywhere what and put them anywhere. I can download a movie from netflix and import it into my itunes library. It seems software like this would be illegal but Apple's nonexistent solutions creates opportunities for smart people. After I figured everything out on my own Apples support team told me I can now store my library in the cloud. My library will cost $3 a month to store in "the cloud." I said no. They also told me I could pay for a streaming music service they had I told Apple to "fuck -off." At least that is what I said in my head. I simply declined. I will never by another freaking thing from Apple. Microsoft is particularly bad with this. I have another laptop that uses Visita. The lap top works perfectly but there is no migration path from Vista to their newer operating systems. I have to rebuild the computer and buy new software for it to use any of their new software. A brand new laptop is cheaper--which plays right into their hands.

@Kalexander2, what did I say about Coates that Angela Davis would disagree with? Keep in mind and I made not attempt to assess Coates himself, just that Black media had nothing to do with his meteoric rise to fame and fortune. I just saw Davis speak a few weeks ago. She strikes me as a great woman. A few year ago a shot a shot video at the NAtional Black Writers Conference (I used a small digital camera and was a some distance, but it came out alright).

@Kalexander2, you replied less than an hour after I posted--that is very responsive! Even if you took a few days it would be cool. No one expects an immediate response. Hey, are you in the Middle East? I'm joking, but you say it a lot, so much it makes me wonder why you do it.... The suggestion that money influence the NY Times review process would not surprise me. Anything that important is always gamed. I would not put too much faith in HuffPo either. I know more than one writer who took money from an advertiser for a mention in an article, and the "advertisement" was treated as if it were pure journalism. The same goes for Amazon reviews. Many authors will provide incentives for favorable reviews on Amazon. All of this is why booksellers, trusted reviewers, and coverage by Black media is so important. But again, these things are sorely lacking in the Black community. This makes it much more difficult for readers to learn about the books they will enjoy the most. This is what I mean by reaching the reader. The writer should not be the entity most responsible for the selling their own books, indeed most are poorly suited for this task. Those authors who are best (or most aggressive) don't always have the best books. Can you see Toni Morrison going into a beauty parlor selling her books or standing behind a table at some obscure book fair trying to sell Beloved? A Ta-Nehisi Coates would still be an obscure writer were it not for The Atlantic. Sadly, I don't think Black people could provide a platform for a Coates or Morrison to rise to prominence. It is what we call the white cosign which enabled their fantastic level of success and prominence. Sure the Black properties that remain promote these writers, but gain they had not impact on their success. The white co-sign is rarely given to African-American who are not from Africa/Caribbean, gay, mixed race (look at the NY Times list with that lense). The impotence of the Black community to determine which books and writers are is something I would like help change. I also agree that it absolutely starts with us. Amazon damn sure ain't gonna do it.

@Kalexander2, for the sake of clarity please define 'universal Black guidelines.' I don't think any publisher--even the big five are against Black male and female writers who produce exceptional material that SELLs. The operative word being "sells." They just don't put much effort into developing these writers and helping these books sell. This is natural given the makeup of the organizations and demographics of this nation. So I agree with the idea of producing a dozen or so Black novels and marketing the hell out of them to ensure they become bestsellers. This is something that is long overdue. Unfortunately, there is one one bestsellers list that really to matters to people--and it ain't one that a Black person compiles. The NYT list that I published is one of the most popular pages on the site and got a lot of attention on social media. I've previously published a list with many of the same titles in fact my most critically acclaimed books is better the The NY Times list (of notable book written by Black writers) because AALBC.com's list identifies more books and is heavily weighted by books that Black folks have celebrated, but it did not get the same level of engagement on social media. Of course I appreciate the Time is FAR more well known than AALBC, but if the biggest and baddest site on the web slinging Black books can't command the same attention by Black readers as the NY Times then I'm not sure what Black folks can do to produce, market, and sell a dozen bestsellers. What I do know is that we have to reach readers directly. Increasingly our access to people is controlled by others. Social command so much of our online attention. We have, effectively no traditional media (that covers Black books), even AALBC.com is at the mercy of Google. Maybe the E Lynn Harris tactic of going to salon and selling books out the back of a trunk is something that wee need to go back to doing.... Of course I'm down to try--I'm all in as far as Black writers and books are concerned, but it will not be easy and we more people and resources to make it happen. #readingblack

Just copy the line of code to your website or Blog to embed the map of Black owned bookstores to your website or blog. This map is automatically updated too. <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1bmEDQVy0eYrwQiQQuf5386tMqwU" width="640" height="480"></iframe>

"...predictably ludicrous, considering the source of this idea..."

It is a good idea. But the people would have to do it.I can provide a facility, but people have to use it. I simply don't have the resources to manage it. Now if someone else steps up I'm willing to help. Non-black feedback is what people seek because it is non-black validation that is desired and what we value so much. I've been plowing through the NYT most notable books looking for the black writers. I've done the last decade so far. See if you can draw any conclusions about the authors that were selected.

@Pioneer1, yes that might work, but lets consider solutions that are within the realm of possibility. 25% of students do need to drop out, we loose that many through attrition. I read a stat that more than 50% of students in New York City's, public schools do not graduate in 6 years. Besides you don't need all those folks. It seems the Bonner Bros in Atlanta have created a model that can be replicated. Why can;t other cities do what they have done? I dunno maybe they make all their money with the trade show and less with hair care (I don't know anything about their business). There used to be a store in Harlem called Carol's Daughter I believe it started in Brooklyn by a sister Essence Magazine covered them and the next thing you know they were in major departments stores. If memory serves, they sold out. The store in Harlem is closed. I shopped there each Xmas. The problem with the store was that it was very expensive. This is why the Koreans clean out clocks in Harlem, they have the lowest prices. The strategy is the same one Amazon uses. Money trumps race every day of the week. So unless we beat or at least become price competitive we stand little chance. This is the same battle we (booksellers) have with Amazon. Since Black booksellers will never be propped up by Wall Street to sell books at a loss like Amazon, we have to provide a service Amazon does not provide to earn the reader's business. It think this is something we can do for books. It can be done for hair care too.

@TSegal, I'm not sure how I missed this post. I just created an account and have uploaded a video: http://www.afroblock.com/social/user/aalbc I have also added this to the list of Black owned websites that I track: https://aalbc.com/top_black_websites/top_black_sites_list.php#Afro+Block

Thanks @richardmurray, the more people we have thinking along these lines the better. Our think must change before our behavior changes for our collective benefit