Honoring Late Great Essence Magazine Pioneers Who Shaped the Golden Age of Black Culture

I consider myself one of the luckiest people because I got to launch my career at Essence magazine during its Golden Age in the ‘80s and ‘90s, when Black culture was a global pulse point and our stories were being told by professionals who loved our people. We lost three of those pioneers in just the past few weeks. While loss is inevitable, these departures hit hard.

I was just dancing and celebrating with my friend Reggie Oliver at his surprise 80th birthday celebration. His wife, Stephanie Stokes Oliver, former executive editor at Essence, had not made the trip to East Hampton from Seattle, WA, as she was under the weather. All indications were that she would be okay.

Fast forward a few weeks, when I learned Stephanie had died. No. This woman—this sweet, smart, thoughtful, intellectual soul sister—was gone. The person who gave me a chance when I started my career, who hired me to work with her in the Contemporary Living Department at the beacon of culture for Black women, had left the planet. No. Of course people have to leave, but Steph? She had lived her best life, building a stellar career at Essence, retiring with her husband to Anguilla to start a new chapter, and moving back to Seattle to care for her mother, Miss Josephine, who outlived her at age 101. She was forever. No?

Just as I was trying to process that Steph was gone, I learned that Diane Weathers had also become an ancestor. I met Diane when I was new at Essence. As editor-at-large then, she was living her best life in Italy. Unafraid of the world, she had set off to explore. That exploration eventually brought her stateside again. Armed with what Essence editor-in-chief emerita Susan L. Taylor called “intellectual firepower,” Diane became one of several successors to Susan when Time Inc. took the reins of our beloved publication.

And then Dion Clarke, who was on the sales team at Essence in the late ’90s. He worked alongside Clarence Smith and Barbara Britton, hustling hard to convince brands to invest in a company that celebrated Black women. Even though Essence was the top Black magazine then, one million subscribers strong, it was still hard as hell to attract companies that remained incredulous that Black folk wielded so much economic power. As an alum, Dion set his sights on the Harlem Fine Arts Show (HFAS) 19 years ago, turning a business that started at the Puck Building in NYC into a traveling art show featuring Black fine artists. Dion loved Black people and believed at his core that our creativity, energy, and dedication were immeasurably valuable. He died four days before HFAS in the Hamptons opened its doors. (His service is at Riverside Church in Harlem today.)

These three trailblazers, all Essence veterans, did the damn thing. They devoted their careers to Black culture. They never gave up on the potential in our people. And I am that much better because of them.

Harriette Cole is the former Contemporary Living Editor and former fashion director of Essence magazine.