Natural Hair: A Teen Struggles To Rock Her Locs Proudly, Courageously
I went #teamnatural 13 years ago with a very specific intention: to show and prove to my daughter, Mari, that she should be proud of...
Oprah Winfrey & Forest Whitaker on the N-Word, Racism, Trayvon & Their New Movie, ‘The Butler’
I was surrounded by a birthday party of 12 giggly teenagers at a showing of Jaden Smith’s After Earth when I first saw the trailer...
Here We Go Again: Tennessee’s Orlando Shaw, With 22 Kids by 14 Women, May Get Reality Show
By NICK CHILES First we got tortured by the travails of rapper Shawty Lo and his stable of baby mamas, now we stumble across this...
This Is My Beautiful, Smart Nephew Miles. He Will Change the World. And #HeIsNotASuspect
Editor’s Note: In response to the George Zimmerman verdict and the flood of responses from its readers, ESSENCE magazine is launching #HeIsNotASuspect, a powerful social...
‘Fruitvale Station’ Review: Film About Oscar Grant’s Death Captures the Horrors of Arbitrary Violence
By SHANNON BARBOUR For as long as I could remember, I’ve been a fan of horror films. From Stephen King’s Carrie, to Paranormal Activity, to...
After Trayvon, A White Woman Grapples with White Privilege and White Silence
White privilege wasn't easy for this woman to see, until she considered the death of Trayvon Martin.
Mad About Trayvon: Finding the Right Words To Explain Anger Over ‘Not Guilty’ Verdict To Kids
By SHAWN TAYLOR I think I scared my daughter. Hell, I think I terrified her. When I heard the Zimmerman verdict, I lost it. I yelled...
In Trayvon Martin’s Name: Words, Art and Music Inspired By the Death of the Son We All Call Our Own
Some of the finest of art is painted with the broad colors of our pain: Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” would not have existed if not...
What If Trayvon Had Come Back Home? We Must Teach Our Children How to Cope With Racism
By HOWARD STEVENSON Let’s say your black son comes home one night, scared, out of breath from running. He tells you that some guy with...
The George Zimmerman Verdict Is Deeply Inhumane. This Is Why We Need To Keep Fighting.
Who prays for our sons? When their bodies are bloodied, broken and frozen in the footnotes of this, our complicated history, who falls to their...
