I was born with rhythm in my hips and in my hands the means to create

African beauty traditions trace back thousands of years, blending function, spirituality, and identity. From Egypt’s protective kohl eyeliner to West African black soaps and natural oils, these practices centered health as much as appearance. Across the continent, ingredients like qasil, frankincense, and myrrh reveal a legacy of skincare rooted in nature—proving beauty has always been both ritual and remedy.

Civic Men—featuring voices from Sean Eldridge, Patrick Ward, and Khary Early—examines why men are absent from civic life. Through themes of burnout, fear, and division, the film calls for unity, intergenerational dialogue, and a renewed commitment to showing up where it matters most.

In The Drum Remembers, LaVianca Asante’ invites us into a visceral journey of ancestral memory, rhythm, and homecoming. Through spoken word and embodied movement, this piece explores the echoes of voices that live within our DNA, the resilience passed down through generations, and the sacred inheritance of identity that connects us to a homeland we may never have seen but always carry. Read it. Feel it. Move with it. Let the voices of our ancestors guide you.

Detail on some of the most popular herbal remedies and treatments used by Black women throughout history, including now

After seasons of giving, I finally tend to my own soul—and taste its sweetness.

What looks like failure may only be misplacement. The right soil reveals what the seed always carried within it.

During Essence Festival Weekend, the 3rd Annual Big Easy Retreat returns to New Orleans with a renewed focus on healing, sisterhood, and purpose. Led by Dr. Toscha L. Dickerson and Kaleigh Dickerson, the experience centers “The Power of Restoration,” offering wellness sessions, honest conversations on mental health and grief, and spaces for both women and teen girls to reconnect, grow, and rise in wholeness.

I am a living force of spirit and resilience, existing far beyond what the eye can name or the world can claim.

Five prominent women in Black History gather around a table, have dinner, to share ideas and stories about being Black Women who dared to lead.

A young woman experiences the complexities of attending a PWI in a red state.

Hi Sis! Welcome to the Sistah Scene! Whether you’re a native of the Queen City or a newcomer, there’s so much to explore in our beautiful city.

A faith-rooted poem reclaiming the erased legacy of Black women throughout history. Using Scripture and garden imagery, the piece exposes the roots of injustice while honoring the divine intention, resilience, and sacred calling placed on Black women whom history tried to bury.

Black women have never been late—we have been becoming. What the world calls waiting has been the sacred work of shaping power, wisdom, and purpose that arrives right on time.

The museum appeared like a memory I hadn’t lived yet, breathing with names the world had tried to forget. As I moved through its halls, I understood it wasn’t built of walls at all, but of women waiting to be remembered.

Dr. Alexa Canady reshaped what leadership in medicine could look like. Her impact reaches far beyond milestones, living on in the lives she changed and the paths she made possible for others.

At a Charlotte Post Women’s History Month event at West Boulevard Library, Charlotte Ballet Academy Director Ayisha Cravotta reflected on a career shaped by discipline, representation, and global training. From becoming Charlotte’s first Black Clara in The Nutcracker to mentoring the next generation of dancers, Cravotta shared how the power of seeing oneself reflected in the arts can shape an entire life — and why creating those mirrors for young dancers today remains essenti

Being last taught us discernment. It taught us that timing is sacred and that preparation is a form of love. So when we arrive, we arrive whole— with boundaries, with wisdom, with legacy in our hands. We are not late. We were being formed.

This piece is a declaration, not a whisper—an unapologetic return to self in a world that benefits from Black women shrinking. What follows is self-love as truth, resistance, and inheritance, spoken without permission.

A vow spoken in defiance of a world designed to fracture Black love and dignity. What follows is devotion as sanctuary—faith, loyalty, and reverence rising where systems have failed.