Theyre going to look like whistleblowers, theyll look like sellouts, theyll look like theyre bringing down the quintessential definition of what Black excellence looks like. The sale of Essence to Mr. Dennis comes at time when traditional media companies continue to struggle to adapt to an increasingly digital landscape, challenges also faced by black-owned media. American Essence April 24, 2022 Liberty Tree: A Look at Thomas Paine's Song Celebrating the Beauty of American Freedom In a chariot of light from the regions of day, The Goddess of Liberty. The release states further that Essence will focus on expanding its digital businesses and continue to plant its rich content in more global markets (the Essence Festival launched a Durban, South Africa, festival in 2016). The magazine focuses on fashion, pop culture, music and black life. We have two magazines: Radiant Life and American Essence as well as an online platform: Bright. The move returns 48-year-old Essence to black ownership for the first time in over a decade, and solidifies the magazines status as the most important minority-owned publication in America. The essay is part of an online campaign that includes Twitter and Instagram accounts and a change.org petition, which has collected more than 2,000 signatures. Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Richelieu Dennis had the title of interim CEO. Whether BeautyCon becomes a platform to help combat those inequities remains to be seen. It is with great joy that we announced that Essence is under new ownership and is now an independent African-American-owned company. Ivie is a Nigerian-American, native New Yorker, and journalist covering, Essence Ventures LLC, an independent black-owned company today announced its acquisition of Essence Communications Inc., home of, magazine, from Time Inc. on Wednesday. The brand was looking for another buyer and has apparently found one with Essence Ventures, which was founded and is chaired by Liberian-American Richelieu Dennis, who also is founder of SheaMoisture (in November, Unilever acquired the parent company for SheaMoisture, Sundial Brands). Recording Studio: Great journey, I gave a lot of myself to these sessions. They have allowed us to invest into the business so that we can bring in the infrastructure and resources.. Sundial Brands announced in November a partnership with Unilever to acquire Sundial. Ousted Essence Magazine Boss Richelieu Dennis Has Bought Up BeautyCon 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 said in a statement. In the Medium article, titled The Truth About Essence, anonymous staffers claimed that Dennis slept with his employees and harassed those who rejected his advances.