Black publishing's inspirational godmother: Susan L. Taylor reflects on her 34 years nurturing writers at Essence and her dozen years as an author in conversation with Malaika Adero, the veteran book editor who midwifed Taylor's In the Spirit

Black Issues Book Review, Nov-Dec, 2004 by Susan McHenry

BIBR: And what about your own next book?

Taylor: It's about relationships and how we can better sustain them. The title is The Ten Commandments of Love. Much further in the future, I want to teach magazine production on a black college campus. I want to teach our young people how to produce successful and beautiful magazines. African Americans demand beauty. We're not going to buy anything that's not beautifully packaged.

Adero: I'm going to quote you: "African Americans demand beauty." Thank you.

Taylor:. That's just who we are. Go back to images of us during the Depression even, and check out black style. It's incomparable, and it's not about affluence. It's all about attitude. Aesthetics are very important to black people, whatever one is producing for us--books, magazines, television, a music festival. Delivering anything that's below our aesthetic standard dishonors who we are. I've learned so much on this remarkable journey at Essence over these nearly 34 years--so much about the beauty, intelligence and creative power of black people, and so much about myself.

Susan McHenry, BIBR founding editor and editorial director, facilitated this conversation. She is also a former Essence special projects editor and currently an Essence contributing writer.