Susan Taylor, the editorial director and senior vice president of Essence magazine spoke to a crowded Maxwell Auditorium audience Monday afternoon about journalistic passion.

The event was part of the Syracuse University Spring 2002 University Lecture series.

Taylor will be inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame in May for her role with Essence, a publication written by and targeted at black women. The lecture focused on a magazine’s role in shaping its readers.

Taylor not only edits Essence, but also contributes her own column, “In the Spirit”, each issue as a gateway to the issue which she refers to as ‘her own public diary.’ She has been one of the motivating forces behind the publication for the past three decades.

‘Telling the truth is hard, especially when it’s before seven million people,’ said Taylor. ‘My writing precedes that of the writing of those whose work I admire … it pales in comparison to them.”

‘Everything that we put in our magazine must be critical for the movement of our people,’ Taylor said. ‘The only magazine to expend this forward growth in the 90s was Essence.’

Famous for being one of the first women’s publications to include hard news, Taylor said, ‘all that concerns us, [Essence] is about African-American ancestry, not just beauty, looks and relationships.’

Despite not having an initial background in journalism, Taylor made her way from acting as an understudy on Broadway to the owner of a cosmetic company before she began working for Essence.

Eventually Taylor worked her way from a writer for the magazine to beauty editor and later the beauty and fashion editor.

‘Follow your passion,’ Taylor said. ‘Whatever it is that you love doing, that was what you were made to do. … Passion is the most important thing. It overrides talent.

‘There is nobody giving to black women what Essence is giving. That is passion,’ Taylor said.

At least one third of Essence readers are men because of the magazine’s column “Brothers,” which is something to be proud of, Taylor said.

Afterward, SU magazine professor Ann Hettinger called for magazines to re-examine themselves.

‘Students have amazing ideas of what magazines should be,” Hettinger said. “That’s the nice thing about being at a school like Syracuse.’

Essence, which was initially founded by four men, has been a household name in black homes for many years as it has evolved into something that Taylor said she is very proud of.

‘Most of the editors at women’s magazines in the 70s were men and that isn’t the case anymore,’ Taylor said. ‘There weren’t any sisters with journalism degrees or who wanted to write about something as mundane as beauty.’

Essence is a magazine with a wide variety of content, Taylor said.

‘You’ll see three men on the cover in bathing suits saying, ‘Let’s get sexy,’ but you’ll also find an article inside on the most powerful woman in the country, Condoleezza Rice,’ Taylor added.

‘I began reading Essence when I was 14 and now, 10 years later, it amazes me that I can pick up a copy and still find something that I can identify with,’ said Stephanie Surratt, a third-year law student. ‘The magazine is a way of life and she exemplifies that. It’s one thing to read an article and another to know the people behind it actually care.’

Published on February 11, 2002 at 12:00 pm