Taylor, Susan L.

Impact on the world

A single mother and licensed cosmetologist without a college degree when Essence hired her as a freelance beauty writer in its 1970 launch year, Taylor rose to fashion and beauty editor before becoming editor-in-chief in 1981, a role she held for nearly two decades during which the magazine’s readership grew into the millions. Her monthly inspirational column “In the Spirit” became one of Essence’s signature features and the basis for three bestselling books, while she also hosted the nationally syndicated Essence television program and helped build the Essence Music Festival and Essence Awards into major cultural institutions; in 1998 she became the first African American woman to receive the magazine industry’s Henry Johnson Fisher Award, and in 2002 she was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame. After stepping down as editor-in-chief in 2000 and leaving Essence altogether in 2008, Taylor founded what became the National CARES Mentoring Movement, which has recruited and trained more than 250,000 volunteer mentors for children in under-resourced Black communities nationwide.

Life & background

Born January 23, 1946, in Harlem to a mother from Trinidad and a father from St. Kitts who ran a neighborhood clothing store, Taylor became a licensed cosmetologist and founded her own cosmetics company, Nequai Cosmetics, before joining Essence as a freelance beauty editor in 1970. She led the magazine as editor-in-chief from 1981 to 2000, remained its chief editorial executive until 2008, later earned a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University while working, and continues to lead the National CARES Mentoring Movement she founded following Hurricane Katrina.

Sources

1. BlackPast.org; The HistoryMakers; Essence