I know I've written about this several times, but I have finally realized that the-powers-that-be at ESSENCE Magazine/Time Warner Communications are going to do as they please and me as a subscriber has no voice as to whom they place on their covers.
Jill Scott graces the October issue of ESSENCE Magazine, yet once again in this gorgeous photo rocking her "new look." I like Jill and I love her music, but come on...another cover?
What about Esperanza Splading, Solange Knowles, Estelle, other celebrities, or even some of the top models?
In all honesty, I'm just tired of seeing the same old people on the cover month after month while lesser known women/celebrities aren't getting any recognition. When my copy arrives in the mail there are times that I don't even take the time to read it because I've tossed it on the table because I'm pissed about the repetitive covers. I know of several women and I'm sure most of you do too of women who would make great cover subjects but just don't get the chance.
We're in a culture that is obsessed with youth and women and body types and looking cool and hip and selling clothes and products. And the basic tenets of the music don't align themselves very well with those requirements. It's a pity that if someone who has a really profoundly potent art to share chooses not to or doesn't fit into this very thin slice of what's desirable and marketable, chances are the public will never get a chance to hear what they're doing. ~Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza said it best and not only does this apply to music, it applies to beauty, to those actresses and the women in the community who shine every day regardless but just don't get the opportunity. That's why I'll continue to blog and write about those beautiful and talented Afro-Women you don't see inside or on the covers of our magazines due to their so called lack of popularity.
It's that serious, because they are also projecting an image of what is desirable and acceptable to the masses.
