News

TAYLOR SPEAKS AT UAPB, URGES MENTORING

By Bobbie Harville/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Saturday, November 14, 2009 12:01 AM CST

Former Essence magazine editor Susan L. Taylor launched a lecture series at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff by encouraging people to become mentors and agents of change in their communities.

“Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders” at UAPB featured Susan L. Taylor, former editor in chief of Essence magazine. She is the only black woman to be recognized by the Magazine Publishers of America with the Henry Johnson Fisher Award. Pine Bluff Commercial/Mike Adam

Taylor spoke at the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts Center during the Student Government Association Lecture Series, “Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders” Thursday night.

As she began her speech, the author and activist looked out into a sea of mostly young, black men and women and said, “You are the good news that we don’t see on the nightly news.”

She told audience members that they’ve been empowered with what they need to move their lives forward; “what’s missing is love and common sense.”

A fourth-generation entrepreneur, Taylor grew up in Harlem working with her father in his women’s clothing store. She founded her own cosmetics company and later became fashion and beauty editor at Essence magazine. She went on to become editor-in-chief and, for 27 years, wrote the magazine’s popular “In the Spirit” column. Taylor was the first black woman to be awarded the prestigious Henry Johnson Fisher Award by the Magazine Publishers of America and has been inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame.

Taylor told the UAPB audience that when she started at Essence, she only had a high school diploma. It was years later, after much success, that she decided to go to college. While some people questioned why she would pursue a degree so late in the game, Taylor said it was something she needed to do for herself.

In a speech laced with straight talk, she encouraged people to invest in themselves and create sustainable communities.

“We put everything on our schedule except ourselves,” she said, encouraging people to take time to exercise, plan nutritious meals and more.

“Be fit, focused, organized and disciplined,” Taylor said.

She encouraged college students to respect themselves and their bodies, study hard, ask professors for help and apply for internships.

“Dream big dreams,” she said. “Do the work.”

Taylor also told those in the audience that they must reach out to others.

“The world is a mess,” she said. “Our communities are dying on your watch but it’s my generation that dropped the baton.”

In the ‘60s and ‘70s, America changed for the better because of protests, she said. However, now the wealthiest country in the world is dealing with such challenges as rundown schools, healthcare issues and the high incarceration rate of black men.

“This is not a sad day,” Taylor said. “What I’m really talking about is our responsibility.”

She encouraged everyone to unite and make a difference.

“We are the solution for the crises in our community, in our country and in our world,” Taylor said.

She introduced a project called the National Cares Mentoring Movement, which she founded in 2006 as Essence Cares. The Cares Mentoring Movement is a campaign to recruit one million adults to mentor children who are in peril. After a short video on the project, Taylor asked people in the audience to stand up if they were willing to act as mentors.

“I’m asking you to lead the way,” she said.

Dozens stood up in response to her call to action.

Before Taylor’s speech, the UAPB Vesper Choir performed two spirituals and several members of the Student Government Association spoke. SGA President Randall Walker said his mission has been to spur what he calls “The Progressive Movement.”

It’s designed to “inspire, motivate and captivate the minds of our students,” he said, adding that he hopes to encourage them to “step up to the plate and evolve into the next generation of leaders.”

SGA Treasurer Gerrica Davis told the crowd, “we continually face challenges and how we view them is up to us.”

“Choose to see challenges as stepping stones,” she said. “We are the next generation of leaders. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff is our stepping stone.”

Print this story   |   Email this story