The National Day of Prayer Committee will be having the Annual National Day of Prayer on Thursday, May 7, 2020 at 12 p.m. in spite of the COVID19 pandemic.

The committee has been working closely with the Mayor’s office and city leaders, and clergy to see the feasibility to have the prayer gathering due to the social distancing guidelines.  However it was decided as long as participants remain in their vehicles, it will be permitted to gather and pray.  Many other cities will utilize this same method when they meet and pray in the county.

The SBPU and National Day of Prayer committee is asking the community to join within the corporate prayer. The San Bernardino community residents must remain strong through these challenging times, and trust God to bring us through. For more information call 909-353-7977, or email sbpastorsunited@gmail.com   or contact Rev Alan Rosenberg San Bernardino Christian Missionary Alliance, NDP Chair at 909-885-0012. Thank you for your prayers .   

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world. Amen.”

-Matthew 28:19-20

By Lou Yeboah

“Seventy sevens are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place,”  before judgment come to the earth like never before. [Daniel 9:24-27]. Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. “For I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.” [Genesis 6:13; 17]. But, “for my own name’s sake, I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise, I hold it back from you, so as not to destroy you completely. [Isaiah 48:9]. Repent and return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing, for this is the Final Call. [Joel 2:12-13].

“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: Vision of Locusts- He was preparing a swarm of locusts…, I cried out, Sovereign Lord, forgive, How can [insert your name] stand? [He\she] is so small.” So, the Lord relented. This will not happen,” the Lord said.

“Then the Sovereign Lord showed me:  Vision of Fire- The Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire; it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, “Sovereign Lord, I beg you stop! How can [insert your name] stand? [He/she] is so small.” So the Lord relented. “This will not happen either,” the Sovereign Lord said.

“Then, He showed me:  Vision of the Plumb Line- The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb-line in His hand. And the Lord asked me, “What do you see…? “A plumb-line,” I replied. Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb-line among my people…; I will spare them no longer…  [Amos 7: 1-9].

The passage message. God bears long, but he will not bear always with a provoking people. If God’s word and his warnings are not heeded, then God will judge and punish without any reprieve.

You see, ever since the Great Flood in [Genesis 7], God has given mankind invitation after invitation to escape the Final Judgment. First it was through the Old Testament prophets—but the world didn’t listen. Next it was through the words of Jesus Christ—but the world still didn’t listen. Finally, it was through the Apostle John’s vision in Revelation.

The question is: Are you listening? God’s grace is for a limited time, not forever. God always gives Grace for a period as he did in the days of Noah. In that day he gave a period of 120 years for people to repent their ways.  After that Grace period ended, God visited his judgment upon the people of the earth through the flood during which everything perished except Noah and his family of eight persons.  Where was God’s Grace when the floods came and all the people died? God’s grace had ended.  “And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.” [Genesis 6:3].

In Judah, God sent Jeremiah to preach for about 30 years to the people of Israel to repent until the Babylonian captivity.  When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Jerusalem in 598 BC hundreds of thousands of people of God’s chosen nation were destroyed and the rest that were not killed was taken faraway into captivity in Babylon.  Where was the Grace of God during the time? It had expired.

In 70 AD almost 30 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, the Jewish nation still refused to accept that Jesus was truly the Son of God after the preaching of His disciples.  In 70 AD Rome attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the City and Temple the second time and killed over 1 million of God’s chosen people. Where was the Grace of God at the time?? It had expired.

If God didn’t spare His own people from His wrath due to their unbelief, unrepentant heart and turning back to Him, what will happen to us when the Grace period expires? Jesus Christ himself declared, there is coming a time of trouble such as there has never been since there was a nation on earth according to Matthew 24.

God’s grace will soon expire. [Revelation 14].  Let us learn a lesson from the fig tree.

“…And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” [Revelation 22:13-17].

Humble Beginnings

By his own admission, Gerald D. Thomas attended one of the toughest high schools on the Westside of Chicago, a neighborhood that has infamously been awarded the title of the “most dangerous neighborhood” in the US on more than one occasion. His cousin, who worked for the high school, convinced Gerald to attend so that he could be a “beacon of light” to his soon to be peers. Gerald was just that. From honor and AP classes to becoming senior class president, Gerald was the light his cousin aspired for him to be.

It wasn’t easy though. “I have had friends who have been killed. I’ve had to come home in the middle of gun crossfire. I’ve seen all of the violence, but I wasn’t going to let that shape my narrative.”

In 2007, during a college recruitment event at his high school, Gerald was introduced to Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough, then president of Philander Smith College, a private Historically Black College & University (HBCU) located in Little Rock, Ark. He offered Gerald a scholarship on the spot, opening a door that would soon lead Gerald down a path of success.

After excelling in high school against all odds in academics, he graduated as the school’s first UNCF scholar in 2008 with more than $100,000 in scholarship offers, but, ultimately, he chose to attend Philander Smith on a full scholarship.

The Launch

During his time at Philander Smith College, Gerald let his light shine even brighter, interning at The Source magazine, launching his career in entertainment.

After graduating college in the Summer of 2012, Gerald did missionary work with the General Board of Global Ministries in the Philippines and New Orleans. Using his background in entertainment and his passion for empowering minority youth, It was here that he worked with inner city schools and the Fountain of Youth to help produce a documentary film shown during the ESSENCE Fest. This experience lit a fire in him and was the beginning of a lifelong passion for helping to better the lives of others.

In the Fall of 2012, Gerald moved to Los Angeles and began freelancing for PR agencies and entertainment powerhouses like BET.

If you know Gerald, you know that he enjoys the finer things in life, but as his career in entertainment PR was going at light speed, he realized that he wanted to do more meaningful work. “I wanted to incorporate service and advocacy through everything that I did, even the entertainment and lifestyle events that I produced.

A Deeper Responsibility

Recounting his time at Philander Smith College, Gerald felt a deeper responsibility to cling to the school’s mission of graduating “academically accomplished students, grounded as advocates for social justice, determined to change the world for the better.”

“Even though a scholarship is what brought me here, I would have been doing myself a disservice if I didn’t take heed to what was right in front of me all along.”

At age 25, Gerald took on this responsibility, and decided to focus more on social justice and step away from the red carpet lifestyle he had come to know and love. “It wasn’t the only thing I wanted to do with my life, I wanted a deeper sense of purpose.”

From there, Gerald returned to Little Rock to work with organizations that had strong foundations in impacting the lives of children and underprivileged minorities through the arts, education and technology. Gerald has produced and assisted in the production of benefit fashion shows through his namesake PR firm, The GDT PR Agency, and Designer’s Choice Fashion Preview (DCFP) presented by the Timmons Arts Foundation.

Gerald was determined to create new avenues for nonprofits and organizations in the community.

Forging New Ground

In 2019, Gerald joined Centers for Youth and Family as an Emerging Leader. The mission of Centers for Youth & Families is to provide specialized prevention, intervention and treatment services that promote emotional and social wellness for children and families in Arkansas.

“The programming was pretty boring and dated,” he says. With the vast majority of its stakeholders being elderly and white, Gerald saw an opportunity to introduce their work to an untapped resource… millennials. Gerald didn’t just want to be another token Black guy so that the organization could just check a box… he wanted to be an instrumental piece of the puzzle in helping to attract this new audience.

In April of 2019, Gerald led a brainstorming session goaled at coming up with new ways the Emerging Leaders would help raise money and better engage millennials. The group of four met continuously and originally concepted the idea of a coupon book… but what happened next was groundbreaking.

Bottomless Brunch

The coupon book evolved into BrunchFest… an interactive event celebrating the area’s best brunch food, good vibes and, of course, bottomless drinks. One hundred percent of the event’s proceeds would

Nearly 40 restaurants provided food for 500 guests, with no cost to Centers for Youth & Families. With unlimited food, beer, tequila and mimosas, the event raised more than $30,000 in its inaugural year.

This event and others like it are the epitome of Gerald’s new direction in life. Marrying entertainment and social advocacy; forging new paths to raising awareness to some of the world’s most pressing issues.

What’s Next

While Gerald’s ultimate goal is to work for an entertainment company’s philanthropic foundation, he is still very active in his local community and committed to bringing fresh ideas to Arkansans across the state.

“Arkansas has so much untapped potential and I want everyone here to realize that we have all of the needed resources to stack up against ‘more notable’ cities across the US,” says Gerald.

Looking at Gerald’s rocket-fueled career trajectory, one can only imagine what his next move will be. Stay on the lookout for what’s to come.

Facing indifference from Governor Newsom, advocates race against time to save the lives of incarcerated people in CA state prisons 

SAN PEDRO, CA––Newsweek reports that more than a third of federally incarcerated people with coronavirus are now in one institution, Terminal Island Prison in Southern California. 

The Federal Board of Prisons (BOP) recorded a staggering 900% increase in coronaviruses cases this week. Criminal justice advocates have pummeled state authorities with unprecedented campaigns for mass releases since early March, warning that California’s state prison system and any adjacent communities are only weeks away from widespread, deadly COVID-19 outbreaks if urgent action is not taken to reduce prison populations. 

“Governor Newsom has done virtually nothing to protect the 118,000 people serving sentences in California prisons and the 37,000 people who work there,” said Amber-Rose Howard, Executive Director of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a grassroots coalition of more than 80 organizations demanding the release of incarcerated people from prisons, jails and detention centers in the interest of public health. “It’s shocking to watch this preventable tragedy unfold,” said Ms. Howard. “By not authorizing vast clemencies and releases, our governor is allowing Californinas to face the deepest devastation during this pandemic. The right thing to do is so clear.”

Activists from California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP), a CURB member organization, say they are in a race against time to prevent widespread illness and death for the most vulnerable prison populations. The group launched a new website this morning––CareNotCages.com––to support elderly and at-risk people in women’s prisons who are petitioning the Governor Newsom for clemency and immediate release. The first three women to appear on the site––Lucia Bravo, 82; Patricia Wright, 68; and Maria Aredondo, 67––all have been diagnosed with cancer. 

“It’s heartbreaking. These women present no risk to public safety. They’ve all been in prison more than 20 years. Two are grandmothers,” said Romarilyn Ralston, Project Director at Project Rebound and an advocate with CCWP. “They belong at home with their families, who are willing to care for them.” 

Governor Newsom received hundreds of applications for commutation months ago, including the womens’ applications, but has yet to respond. 

California is ready to partially reopen major sectors of its economy as early as this Friday, including retail shops and the manufacturers that supply them, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. 

Clothing outlets, bookstores, florists and other merchants across the state will be allowed to offer curbside pickup as long as they obey physical distancing guidelines meant to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus. California companies that make clothing, furniture, toys, and other goods those retailers sell can also resume operations, with appropriate worker protections. 

“This is an optimistic day as we see a little ray of sunshine on the horizon,” said Newsom. 

While more details on which specific industries would be allowed to reopen won’t be available until Thursday, Newsom’s announcement marks the first major relaxing of the statewide shelter-in-place order he issued March 19 and the first time the governor has offered a specific date by which California can enter the second stage of the administration’s four-stage recovery plan.

CA is led by data and SCIENCE.

Based off our progress, we’ll begin to gradually move into Stage 2 this FRIDAY.

Some sectors where there’s a lower risk of transmission will be able to adapt & re-open with modifications.

This will include some retail and manufacturing/logistics.

— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 4, 2020

With COVID-19 hospitalization rates stabilizing, testing capacity improving and a sufficient inventory of personal protective equipment, Newsom said the state can begin the delicate dance of reopening its battered economy while trying to prevent a second major wave of infections. 

In a nod to growing pleas from more rural parts of the state less affected by the virus, Newsom’s plan allows individual counties to reopen restaurants and offices if local public health officials certify those plans as safe. But the governor cautioned the state would intervene if it suspected community transmission of the virus was reaching dangerous levels, referencing an unspecified “trigger” that would prompt state action. 

“To the extent that we start to see community spread, that we start to see that the certification and the commitments they made at the local level aren’t manifesting and they weren’t able to hold up…then the state can once again intervene,” he Newsom.

Counties could also opt to maintain stricter shelter-in-place orders than those proposed by the state, Newsom said, indicating some Bay Area counties may consider that approach. 

While picking up T-shirts outside an Old Navy or paperbacks outside a local bookseller may provide some Californians with a sliver of pre-pandemic normalcy, wide swaths of the day-to-day life will remain shuttered even under the updated shelter-in-place order, including gyms, hair salons, and movie theaters. Newsom did not indicate when he believed those enterprises, slated for “Stage 3” of the state’s plan, may reopen. 

And malls are specifically excluded from the kinds of retail businesses that would be allowed to start welcoming customers beginning Friday.

Yuba, Sutter and Modoc counties, all in relatively sparsely populated regions of the state, have already allowed the reopening of private gyms and some other businesses still not approved by the state. Newsom declined to answer whether he was planning to punish counties that moved too fast than the administration preferred. 

Key to the administration’s confidence it could reopen parts of California safely was a new initiative to create an “army” of coronavirus contact tracers–public health workers tasked with tracking down people exposed to the virus so they can safely self-isolate and prevent the disease from spreading. 

Newsom said a partnership with UCLA and UCSF will allow for online training of 3,000 new tracers a week, starting Wednesday, that will work for local public health agencies. Those workers will initially come from a pool of local and state government workers. 

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN to the Joe Biden campaign if he announces that he will appoint President Barack Obama as Attorney General on day one of his Presidency?

WHAT IF Biden names some of his Cabinet members prior to the election. Would a Biden Cabinet Dream Team help his candidacy?

WHAT DO YOU THINK will be the impact/effects of a Biden Cabinet Dream Team campaigning to ‘hit the ground running’?

 WHO DO YOU NOMINATE for what Cabinet position in the Biden Administration Cabinet Dream Team?

During The COVID-19 Crisis I choose to shelter and move cautiously. If you choose to gather and group, either to protest or work, I support your right to do so. I just request that you allow your movement to be contact tracked and your health be monitored so that science and the rest of us can benefit from your social experiment.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) highest governing body announced last week that it is moving toward allowing student-athletes to receive compensation for endorsements and promotions. 

The NCAA’s Board of Governors says it now supports lifting longstanding restrictions on student-athletes that ban them from getting compensation for third-party endorsements both related to and separate from athletics. The new guidelines pave the way for college student-athletes around the country to earn compensation without affecting their scholarship eligibility. 

The board is also giving its consent for other student-athlete compensation opportunities, such as social media promotions, businesses ventures they have launched and personal appearances. But colleges and universities still cannot give student-athletes paychecks. 

“Throughout our efforts to enhance support for college athletes, the NCAA has relied upon considerable feedback from, and the enNCgagement of, our members, including numerous student-athletes, from all three divisions,” said Michael V. Drake, chair of the Board of Governors and president of Ohio State University. 

California state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena), who is African American, co-authored and introduced legislation last year that will give student-athletes in California the green light to earn money for endorsements and more while retaining their NCAA eligibility. Gov. Newsom signed the bill, Senate Bill 206 (SB 206), into law last fall. The first legislation of its kind in the United States, SB 206 will go into effect in January 2023. 

“I commend the NCAA governing board for their decision to allow college athletes the opportunity to monetize their name, image and likeness through sponsorships and endorsements,” Bradford said. “This is an issue that has been long debated, and its time has come.” 

Bradford and Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) co-authored SB 206, the Fair Pay to Play Act. Supporters of the policy say the California student-athlete law was the catalyst that put pressure on the NCAA. 

In a conversation with California Black Media, Bradford expressed some lingering concerns about how the country’s premier college sports institution will roll out its plan by the 2021-2022 school year. 

Bradford said, while he likes some changes the NCAA plans to implement, there are others he doesn’t care for, point out that a few key changes come with a litany of restraints. 

“I’m not fond of the fact they are going to try to limit how much a student 

can make per year. I think that should be dictated by the market and not by the university,” he said. 

In addition, Bradford says he has an issue with a proposal that would allow the NCAA to ask the U.S. Congress to side with colleges and universities in a decision that would reclassify student athletes as school employees. 

“The NCAA adding the Congress equation to the issue, Drake countered, is to 

build a legal and legislative landscape that would not undermine college sports and to meet the needs of college athletes as they pursue a higher-education degree. 

“We must continue to engage with Congress in order to secure the appropriate legal and legislative framework to modernize our rules around name, image and likeness,” Drake said. “We will do so in a way that underscores the Association’s mission to oversee and protect college athletics and college athletes.” 

The changes also prevent student-athletes from using schools’ team uniforms or logos for personal endorsements. These specific changes do not satisfy the student-athletes’ needs, Bradford said. 

Popular college student-athletes say their schools often sell sports merchandise that bears the athletes’ names or likeness. Under the new NCAA rules, universities can still cash in on selling items such as jerseys. 

“Some of these things are red flags to me,” Bradford told CBM. 

The NCAA is also setting up rules to ensure that sports agents and other representatives do not influence high school prospects to choose a school because it offers them prime benefits. 

But the athletes can hire sports agents and attorneys. 

“To be able to hire an agent or lawyer apart from the universities are good guidelines because we don’t want any conflicts between what might be university involvement and enticing an athlete to attend,” Bradford said. 

Since California laid the groundwork for other states to draft legislation similar to SB 206, New York, Illinois, Florida, and up to 10 other states have introduced their versions of “Fair Pay For Play” laws. 

Bradford and other supporters of California’s law and the NCAA’s new policy say African Americans college athletes sports have been getting raw deals while universities, coaches, and the NCAA itself walk away with fat pockets. 

The NCAA, a nonprofit institution, sets the rules for three collegiate sports divisions (Divisions I, II and III) and rakes in $1billion annually in revenues. Most of the money comes from lucrative television contracts with football and basketball coverage leading the way. 

After Gov. Newsom inked SB206, he said the compensation problem in college athletics is connected to “social justice.” Bradford agrees, calling it a “civil rights issue.” 

“Without a doubt,” Bradford said when he was asked if he still stood by his civil rights statement. “A majority of these athletes are people of color. And regardless of race, how do you discriminate against athletes versus any other students? If you’re a computer science major, on full scholarship, and develop an app, you can monetize it. But if you’re a college athlete you can’t monetize your name, image or likeness?” 

The Board of Governors are sending the recommendations to all three divisions. They should adopt the guidelines in January 2021. The rules will go into effect in the fall of the next year. 

Since California’s SB206 is less than three years away from becoming law, legislators in Sacramento are watching carefully how the NCAA will set the guidelines in motion. 

“As they say, the ‘devil is in the details,’” Bradford said. “As they are adding parts, Skinner and myself are going to closely monitor what the NCAA finally comes up with and what they approve. We are going to be watchdogs.”

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy (YVYLA) is pleased to announce receipt of a $10,000 grant from the Wells Fargo 2020 Grants Program.

Funds from this grant will be for our Workforce Training and Development Center located inside the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County in San Bernardino CA. As one of the nation’s leading logistics hubs, San Bernardino County is experiencing significant job growth as distribution centers and warehouses for such giants as Amazon, FedEx Ground, Toyota Motor Corporation and Lineage Logistics advertise hundreds of jobs each week. Many of these job opportunities are going unfilled due to the lack of trained and experienced workers.

Through collaboration with the Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County (CAPSBC), Board of State and Community Corrections, Wells Fargo  and other community partners  YVYLA’s Workforce Training and Development Center will help fill the local workforce skills gap by providing hands-on training and experience in supply chain logistics.

Participants in the Workforce Training and Development Program will learn the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost-effective

flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, production of finished goods and related information from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of meeting customer requirements – also known as Logistics and Operations.

To support YVYLA’s Workforce Training and Development Program, CAPSBC is providing forklifts, classroom and warehouse space to house the training center.

Industry experts will provide on-site instruction at the training center located at the CAPSBC headquarters. Curriculum will include an in-depth study of global supply chain logistics, the logistics environment, material handling equipment, quality control principles, as well as safe material handling and equipment operation. Students will also participate in pre-employment workshops on work communications, resume writing, interviewing techniques, self-marketing, leadership and team building, and financial literacy.

Terrance Stone, CEO and founder of Young Visionaries Youth Leadership Academy, states, “It is the purpose of YVYLA’s Workforce Training and Development Program to move the unemployed into well-paying jobs by preparing individuals with the skills and knowledge necessary to become Certified Logistics Technicians,” says Stone. “With the help of our partners and funding from the Wells Fargo Foundation, we can improve the lives of many in San Bernardino County while improving the local economy as well,” he adds.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in partnership with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad, will be closing US Route 395 (US-395) at Kramer Junction for five days to allow BNSF workers to replace concrete panels, rails and re-ballast the tracks crossing US-395 immediately north of the intersection of State Route 58 (SR-58). The railroad work is a portion of the completion work for the Kramer Junction project which began in late 2017 to realign Old State Route 58 to the new expressway east and west of “Four Corners” in San Bernardino County.

The full closure on US-395 will begin on Sunday, May 17 at 5:00 a.m. and continue through Thursday, May 21^st at 5:00 p.m. at Kramer Junction. A 10-mile detour will be in place for traffic on US-395.

• Northbound US-395 traffic will be diverted from US-395 westward onto Old State Route 58 (Old SR-58) to Twenty Mule Team Road. At the intersection of Twenty Mule Team Road and Old SR-58, westbound motorists will make a left turn onto Twenty Mule Team Road, continue to Boron Road making a right turn to head north to the new section of SR-58, then head east on SR-58 back to US-395.
• Southbound US-395 traffic will be diverted from US-395 westward onto the new section of SR-58, exit Boron Road and turn left, travel south on Boron Road to Twenty Mule Team Road, then turn left to head east back to US-395.
• SR-58 will remain open in both directions on the new alignment to bypass the closure.

Motorists are advised to use SR-58 west from I-15 as an alternate route to avoid delays (DETOUR MAP ATTACHED). Changeable message signs and detour signage will be in place to alert motorists to use alternate routes to avoid delays. Remember to reduce your speed in the work zone. Be advised, weather conditions may affect this operation.

Know before you go! To stay on top of roadwork in the Inland Empire go to Caltrans District 8 and sign up for commuter alerts. Follow us for the latest information on Facebook and Twitter. To assist in planning your commute, view live traffic conditions using QuickMap and planned lane closures. For those with sensory disabilities requiring alternate formats (i.e. Braille, large print, sign language interpreter, etc.) and those needing information in a language other than English, please contact Kimberly Cherry at 909-383-6290 or TTY 711 by May 18, 2020.

For months, ESSENCE – the leading media, technology and commerce company serving Black women and communities – had planned an impressive schedule of activities and celebrations to launch in May 2020 in honor of its 50th anniversary.  Then, the COVID-19 global pandemic hit – with Black communities being most disproportionately impacted in the United States.  Still, demonstrating how it has been able to thrive for five decades, ESSENCE has continued with a relentless commitment and innovation in service to its community – providing critical content, digital and virtual offerings, a new streaming platform and more to inform, empower and inspire during these times. 

That same sense of purpose compelled ESSENCE to shift its 50^th anniversary strategy amidst the pandemic and launch its Golden Anniversary Collector’s Edition issue entirely remotely for the first time ever — paying homage to the incredible legacy of its community, while also capturing the current realities brought on by a global pandemic.  In honor of ESSENCE’s milestone year, iconic supermodel Naomi Campbell partnered with ESSENCE to grace the magazine’s first self-shot and styled cover.  In Campbell’s cover story, At Home With: Naomi Campbell, the supermodel prepares to celebrate her own milestone 50^th birthday later this month and takes readers inside her life with an intimate self-portrait during COVID-19 social isolation.  Using an iPhone, Campbell shot and styled all the photos herself — marking the first time she has ever photographed herself for a cover.

ESSENCE’s special Golden Anniversary issue also takes a look at some of the joys, pains, laughter, triumphs and stories that have impacted the Black community over the past half-century—including the novel coronavirus and its effects on the lives of Black women and the community at-large today.  Throughout this special edition, readers will be able to travel through time for some of the most inspiring, stirring and significant moments shaping and shaped by Black culture throughout ESSENCE’s 50 years—as well as look to what’s ahead, particularly post-COVID-19.  ESSENCE is also inviting its community into the coverage and conversation by sharing their own COVID-19 stories for ESSENCE.com.  Click here for details.

“Our nation and our world are enduring a crisis at a scale that our generation has never seen, but this time also reminds us of the power of our resilience, innovation and community – which have sustained ESSENCE for 50 years and will help ensure it thrives for the next 50 advancing global Black culture, economic inclusion and ownership,” said Richelieu Dennis, founder and chair of Essence Ventures, parent company of ESSENCE. “We could not be more excited to mark the 50th Anniversary of ESSENCE as a 100% Black-owned business that has not only revolutionized the publishing and media industries, but that has also become a cultural institution and home for Black women and communities globally.  Since its inaugural issue in May 1970, ESSENCE has expanded beyond the pages of a ground-breaking flagship magazine to multi-platform stages, experiences, and digital and brand extensions including the unparalleled ESSENCE Festival of Culture, ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood, ESSENCE.com, ESSENCE Studios, industry-recognized podcasts, television specials, books and more.  We have been able to do this because of our uncompromising focus on the evolving needs of our community and our community’s unyielding support of us.  While we have shifted the majority of the ESSENCE 50^th Anniversary activities and engagements to 2021, this incredible special collector’s edition issue marks the beginning of our milestone celebration of Black culture, community, achievement, progress and the work that remains to be done.”

Additional 50^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition editorial packages include:

• COVID-19 Essay Feature: ESSENCE editors share their personal journeys of adjusting to the new reality of social isolation in these challenging times.  Despite differing experiences, the essays have a common thread of what ESSENCE staff and the world are looking to for hope.

• ESSENCE Uncovered: 50 Years: ESSENCE compiles its most iconic covers along with an essay/timeline on its evolution over the last five decades. The package illustrates ESSENCE’s impact, as well as the impact of those whose stories graced its pages.

• Power—State of Black Women: By the Numbers: ESSENCE takes a deep dive into how Black women are doing and how their lives have changed over the last five decades across its key verticals—Fashion, Beauty, Culture, Power (News + Wealth) and Thrive (Lifestyle, Wellness + Love).

• Ageless Beauties: #ThisIs50: In this fan-favorite feature, ESSENCEinvites eight readers from across the nation who, like ESSENCE, are turning 50 this year for an exclusive photoshoot and beauty spread.

“For 50 years ESSENCE has showcased the brilliance, beauty, power and resilience of Black women, and now more than ever, in these unprecedented times, that is on display,” said MoAna Luu, ESSENCE Chief Content & Creative Officer.  “In our Golden Anniversary issue, we are taking the best of the past, bringing it to the present and showing what our future looks like beyond the pages.  By creating a meaningful multi-channel ecosystem that entertains with impact, we continue to reimagine ourselves to reach Black women everywhere and provide a seamless content experience across mobile, tablet, desktop and of course, our signature magazine.  At ESSENCE, our approach to what we do and how we serve is timeless – reflecting and celebrating our culture and telling the truth with open hearts and open minds.”

For more on the 50^th Anniversary Collector’s Edition/May-June issue, visit ESSENCE.com.