(BVONSTYLE) Blogs are abuzz with the news that African American women’s magazine, Essence, recently hired a non-black fashion director.
Essence editor-in-chief Angela Burt-Murray told Black Voices in a written statement that Ellianna Placas, a former fashion editor at O: Home and Us Weekly, is just part of Essence’s growing fashion team.
To read more go to: http://www.bvonstyle.com/2010/07/28/essence-white-editor-ellianna-placas/
In an opinion piece that appeared on the Grio, Burt-Murray expressed disappointment that hiring a white editor creates such controversy while the magazine’s stories about serious issues in the community go unnoticed.
‘When we run pieces on how unemployment is devastating black men? Nada,” she wrote. “When we run story after story on how HIV is the leading cause of death for black women age 18-34? Zilch. The things that really are the end of our world apparently aren’t.”
Nevertheless, Essence’s mission is to “inspire black women to lead bold, fulfilling lives,” and several readers and former employees, including former fashion editor Michaela Angela Davis, seem to feel that Essence’s newest staffing choice goes against that mission.
