July 8, 2025 • 18 mins
Loren is in for a conversation talking about the Essence Festival fallout and how we can collectively criticize in a constructive way. Let’s not forget the history of this family reunion style event and this magazine .. that has done so much for us.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm a homegrow that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I don't know if you don't lie about that, right,
Lauren came in.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, guys, it's Laura l. Rosa and this is the
Latest with Laura L. Rosa, your daily digests and breakdown
of all things pop culture, entertainment, news, trending topics, and
the conversations that shake the room. Baby Now today, briand
the scenes of the Grind checking in. If y'all can't
feel my energy through the podcast, through the audio, through
(00:31):
the visual, however you're seeing me, however you're hearing me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's very refreshed.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I told you guys in my last episode, a weekend
at home with the family does the body to mind
the spirit good. So excited to be back at work.
We are back at the breakfast club today. I did
not show up here and was here by myself because
no one else was at work, which is what happened
to me on the episode previous to this one. Go
back and take a listen to that if you want
(00:57):
to laugh at me. But I came back to work
off of the vacation too early, and then boom, I
was here by myself, so.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm feeling good, and I've been.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
You know, just digesting a lot of There was so
much that happened over the weekend, like I've been, you know,
just digesting and kind of you know, catching up. This
was probably one of the first weekends where I told
myself that I was going to intentionally just disconnect because
I've been working so much prior to that, And baby.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Did I do it. But one of the things that
I was.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Seeing a lot of and you know, we normally get
into the latest here. This is the latest though, because
this is news. It made headlines all over from CNN
to Essence themselves to you know, everywhere you can think of.
But it's also been a big conversation just across social
media and everywhere I've went following the Essence Festival that
(01:45):
happened over the July fourth weekend. The conversation that people
are having right now is about everything that went wrong
at Essence Festival. People are pointing out the time that
Laurence Hill went on stage, which Essence Festival has come
out in our but he said, hey, that was not
her fault, that was our fault. People were talking about
there were you know, suites set up that the year
(02:09):
prior to this were not just VIP suites for people
to attend, but this year they were kept as VIP suites,
and Essence Festival came out and said, hey, look we
had some last minute changes.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Was that our fault.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yes, Essence has come out and took accountability for a
lot of you know what it seems like to be
logistical mishaps that took place. I've also been seeing people
have conversations about the fact that there just weren't a
lot of people at Essence Festival this year. I went
to Essence Festival probably about like five years ago now,
and you could barely walk through the Convention Center, which
(02:42):
is where like a lot of the it's like the
Dome area, which is where a lot of the events
and the concerts and stuff were taking place that year.
I don't know how they had it set up this year,
but it was so many people there that, you know,
luckily we stayed in a hotel close to where all
the main events were because you couldn't even get in
an uber to go around corner. You'll be waiting in
an uber, like literally in your uber, sitting still for
(03:03):
like an hour, just trying to make it a block
or two, because that's how many people Essence Festival brings
to New Orleans every year, and people were talking about
the fact that was different this year. And again, we
know times are hard right now. Financials are hard on
people right now. Things are expensive right now. So there's
a lot that I want to get into because I ran,
I came across this clip, and I thought that this
(03:26):
clip was very powerful because the clip talked a lot
about just where we should be at mind state wise
when we talk about things that belong to us, especially
when we talk about it publicly.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
I just got back from Essence Fest, and I've seen
a lot of the online commentary, and I think that
there's one important distinction that we need to make early
and often. That is the distinction between feedback and fellowship.
Some of you just seem to be in love with
the idea of providing negative feedback. I've even seen feedback
from people who weren't actually at the event. I will
(04:02):
remind us it is important for us to protect our stuff. Now. Look,
nothing is perfect and there are always opportunities to improve,
but the spirit in which we do that is super important.
Feedback often is about just critiquing the product. Fellowship protects
the product. Feedback is transactional where fellowship is transformational. These
(04:23):
sort of distinctions are the things that I deeply encourage
us to be thinking about as we're talking about one
of the very important institutions that we have in our community.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Now, that clip was actually a gentleman by the name
of Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Shout out to Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
He is the CEO and co founder of a space
called The Gathering Spot. Now, the Gathering Spot is you know,
for us, by us, you know, they've been through their
own things. We won't get into that, we can only
focus on one conversation at the time. But the Gathering
Spot is people will equate it to that of a
SOHO house, which is, you know, you pay to be
(04:58):
a member of a community. You're able to come, eat, drink, fellowship,
do events, work, throw events yourself. It's all about community,
but it's very focused on black people, people of color,
but black people. So he attended Essence Festival, and you know,
he had also saw some of the fallout following the
weekend and he made those comments. Now, I've been seeing
(05:19):
the fallout and I didn't really know how to feel
about it. I normally don't like to talk about things
if I didn't experience it or go there myself. But
when I saw Ryan's video, I was like, you know what,
I do want to talk about it because I appreciated
the angle that Ryan took on this.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I want to give you guys some history.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So for anyone who is not familiar with Essence Festival,
Essence Festival is an extension of Essence Magazine. Essence Magazine,
I'm hoping you guys would know, but if you do not,
Essence Magazine is a cultural staple for a black narrative,
black conversation, black women, black fashion, just black black, black
(05:59):
black things us. When Essence Magazine was created, it was
actually created with the vision to solely focus on Black
women and our stories, our narratives, again, our fashion, and
just give us a place that was ours and an
ally in the media space because there was nothing like that,
and it was actually, you know, from very on site,
(06:20):
it was deemed, you know, by onlookers to you know,
as something that wouldn't be successful because at the time,
black women were you know, censored, Like people love to
talk about Black women and what we've accomplished now and
you know how much of the buyer and consumer market
we take up, and you know how educated we are,
and all those things are great, but that has not
always been the focus of media and of you know,
(06:43):
these entities in the media. And even now people will
argue that the focus is there for us, but people
don't always enjoy it what the angle is on the focus. Like,
you know, they don't like the fact that you talk
about trauma. When we talk about black women and all
these things. It's not always just positive. But Essence Magazine
set out very early on to reshape that and to
gain control of that, and they did. They've dominated for
(07:04):
over fifty years. And in nineteen ninety six they decided
to create the Essence Festival, which was an in person
experience that was an arm of the magazine. So all
things black very central and focused on Black women and
what feels our mind, body and spirit. And you know,
black men and everybody else are They're able to come.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But if you ever gone.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I went to Essence Festival some years ago, it feels
like a family reunion.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I mean, I've never seen so many black people, not
even just women. Because it's grown bigger than just black women.
Everybody comes to Essence Festival, even though we are the focus.
I've never seen so many black people in T shirts
and you know, like they're at their family reunions and
dressed toke and you know, generations of families. They're experiencing
all of the concerts and you know, all of the
(07:53):
learning and the live conversations and the food and just
all the things. It's a very beautiful experience if you've
never been. So when I saw all the breakdowns this
year online on TikTok and all these places and all.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The articles written, it kind of broke my heart.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
But you know again, I wanted to be neutral and
just kind of see, you do people have a point.
And what I think right when I'm talking about Essence
Festival and the reason I'm talking about the history it
is that I agree with Ryan wholeheartedly. I feel like
we have to really there's nothing wrong with criticism and critique.
I think that we should be able to criticize and critique.
I think that brands and businesses alike, whether you're black, white,
(08:31):
or yellow, should hear that from people that are spending
their money, especially during a time where they don't have
the money to spend. But I do think that, you know,
some of the commentary that I've been seeing has been
unfairly placed, unfairly targeted, and it seems very like I'm
throwing this away, like I'm done with Essence. I'm done
with Essence Festival. So that's breakdown number one. Some of
(08:55):
the critiques, so you know, logistics seemed like it was
an issue this year at Essence Festival. Fans were pissed
off because Lauren Hill was a part of the live
performances along with Lucky Day, Coco Jones, Glorilla nas or
A Lennox, Tamar Braxton, the Isisley Brothers. There was a
Waiting to Hell tribute because Adam Blackstone and Keep Sweat
(09:17):
or celebrating you know, so many years of the soundtrack.
But Lauren Hill got on stage and baby, they it
was late, okay. And when I say late, I don't
mean her performance was late, like it wasn't a good performance.
I mean the time that she got on stage was late.
She did not finish her performance until three forty a m.
She got on stage after midnight and she performed you
(09:39):
know a few songs. Once this happened, fans got online
and they even in the Essence comments. You know, when
Essence posted Lauren Hill's performance video and some of her
photos online, you know, the fans were quick to get
in the comments and say, you know, I enjoyed everything
up until this point because we waited hours and you
(10:00):
know it was too late. I left, and you know,
things of that nature. And the headline that quickly spread
because of our reaction just from misunderstanding. Right, it's not
our fault if we don't know. But I'm saying this
to make a point. So when you google Essence Festival,
the first few headlines you see people dot com Lauryn
Hill played to a nearly empty super Dome until three
(10:21):
thirty seven am in New Orleans CNN. Lauren Hill took
the Essence Festial stage super late, and organizers want you
to know it wasn't her fault. That's a very fair
headline a variety. Essence Festival defends Lauren Hill's delayed two
am performance. Essence Festival actually came out and posted a
statement because of all the coverage that picked up because
(10:44):
of people's reactions to the time that Lauryn Hill got
on stage.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And they said in the caption.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Family is family, and around here we protect our own
no matter what the people will have to say. Let's
be clear, we don't play about Miss Lauren Hill, not
for clicks, not for headlines. She arrived on schedule, stepped
on that stage and delivered the kind of performance only
a legend can the delay dot not hers, and we'll
take that the moment one for the books, the legacy
(11:10):
still unmatched. Put some respect on her name. Keep the takes,
but keep her out of them. They also ended up
responding to the notion that no one showed up to
Essence Festival this year. They posted a video of what
the super don't look like when NAS performed, and they
said basically like now, who said, what excuse us?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Was the caption that they get that? That's what the
caption gave.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know there were people upset that Essence decided to
work with Target because of all the Target rollbacks and
you know, the DEI things that have been a conversation.
I saw Timmy Ka Mallory and she talked about her
decision to skip Essence Festival. You know, with TIMMYK and Mallory,
when we talk about like having critique and criticism but
(11:51):
making it something that like a brand or a business,
like an Essence magazine. In Essence, the company can hear
and take from. You know, I think I like the
that She responded, So she talked about, you know, she's
been going to Essence Festival for over twenty years. She
talked about it's more than an event. I told y'all,
it's a spiritual recharge, the celebration of everything that makes
being a black on powerful, complex and so beautiful. So
(12:12):
not being this year it's heavy. I miss my friends
in that good food. But stepping away from something I
love is never easy. But as leaders, we are often
called to dude what's uncomfortable in service of what is necessary.
They joined the boycott against Target, and it wasn't just
about boycott and the one corporation, but she said that
there have been a rollback of respect for black people,
(12:32):
our progress and our black political power and economic power.
And she says that, you know, it hasn't gotten enough
coverage about you know, what they're doing and why they're
doing it. But she says, you know, go ahead, family,
enjoy Essen's festival. Dance connects, celebrate the fullness of black experience.
But when you see that red bullseye, keep walking, don't
take or post any of the swag. Don't let the
brand co opt our culture while betraying our people. The
(12:55):
fight is bigger than one brand or one booth. It's
about standing on business. Standing for justice is standing to
the right side of history. We can love Essence and
still take the stand. So remember when you see the
red bulls eye walk by, with the spirit of our
ancestors or powers to the people. So her whole point
was I'm not gonna tear Essence down because this is
the festival in a concert in an institution that I love.
But I'm gonna tell y'all what y'all should do in
(13:15):
spite of that right. And whether that actually was successful
or not, I thought that it was constructive because she
didn't tear us down like one of the things I
watched this docu series about Essence magazine in the Essence
brand in general and its inception and why it was
created and what it stood for. At some of the
times that Essence has had to stand next to us
and really take a stand, and I think that's why,
(13:38):
you know, a lot of people are outraged at the
way that people's responses have been to the Essence Festival experience,
although you know some of them may be warranted.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You know, you're waiting for hours and you know all
these things and things are not being explained to you.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But I think it's a do we throw.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Away Essence Festival conversation that a lot of people are
upset about, because, you know, Essence at one point in
time was it was what we had and all we had.
I learned about when Vanessa Williams, you know, was the
first black Miss America and there were some new photos
of her that made it onto a magazine that she
did not approve of, and because of that, she had
(14:15):
to resign her title. And Essence was the magazine that
she used to help to reclaim her narrative and recharge
her brand and her career, and they stood beside her
regardless of how other people were reviewing her because of
those photos and the fact that she had to step
away from Miss America. Being able to have a home
in the media like that is so important, and for
this media brand to be able to do something like
(14:37):
an Essence Festival, where you know, they're employing all of
these people, they're bringing together all this money in the sake.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Of black people and black things.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
We can argue all day long about what you think
they could do better and not do better, but I
think it's important that when you do argue, you understand
that like people hear us, and I'm speaking to us
because I'm speaking to the black people listening. I know
it's a million of y'all low writers out there, so
it may not just be black people, but I'm speaking
to us when I say I've had to learn a
lot about when you get on the microphone, when you
(15:05):
get on a social media platform. You know, wherever you
have a voice, making that something that like when you
say these things and when you put these things out there,
there is a there's always a responsibility for us. We
don't have a choice, there's always a responsibility for us.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
So making is something that you know makes sense.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
If essence is an active, real time owning up and
being accountable for where they messed up and wanted to
fix and rectify, I think we begin to have conversations
about that. Okay, here's where you correctify, Here's what I
didn't appreciate, and here's what I think you could do better,
versus just saying this, why I can't support nothing black.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
There was a superdome mix not super Dome.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
But there was a sweet experience that people complained a
lot about too, and I begin to see that on
TikTok and since addressed it, they use their social media
to address it and they say, look, this experience used
to be this way, it is now this other way.
Did we get it correct?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
No, we did not. Are we open to being accountable
and changing? Yes we are.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
We need more brands like that, because who else y'all
know hearing y'all hearing us and caring about us enough
to want to make sure the catered experience is that
which it has always been, where it feels like a
family reunion, it feels like home. The whole point in
all of is is to encourage you, guys to you know,
if you are one of the people that attend the
Essence Festival this past weekend, did not enjoy your experience
(16:25):
and your online talking.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
About it, I don't think you got to go out
to your experience.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I think your experience is yours, and I think it's
important if you feel like it's important for the right
reasons to get.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Online and express it.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
But I think we also have to really ask ourselves
a question when you decide to And this is something
I had to learn in this and I'm still learning.
When you decide to get on the mic and you
decide to use your voice, is it to help or
is it to hurt? And if it is to hurt,
why do you want to do that to someone that
looks like you, that is building, you know, a company
that stands for you, and regardless who the partners are,
(16:58):
right like, we don't always have to agree with those things,
but it takes.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Money to make money.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So if we can cater how the money's been given,
who it's from, who we're involved with, what the experience
is like, if we can open our mouths to adjust
that and polish that, I would take that over us
just having nothing. We need Essence Magazine, we need Essence Festival.
These are places for us, These are experiences for us.
I know I've been going for a minute, y'all, but
(17:24):
I mean, I don't know. I guess it could qualify
as in the streets, in the tweets, outside we outside,
we outside.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Outside of tweet every other page.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
When I say it was so loud over the weekend,
I was like, man, they ain't come in Essence no breaks.
I would love to hear from some of you guys,
some of the low Riders who may have been at
Essence Festival.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I did not attend this year.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I chose to be with family, but shout out to
Essence though the team there, they did reach out for
me to attend. And that's not why I did this
whole spiel. I did it because I truly felt this way.
Let me know how did you guys feel? What did
you experience? I know I saw nads perform myself. It's
just so many different people performing, so y'all had to
(18:04):
have fun somewhere. Let me know how y'all felt about it.
We'd love to hear from you, guys. This has been
the latest with Laura lu Roza, a dedicated episode to
Essence Magazine because without them, you wouldn't have me, Lord Riders.
I tell y'all at the end of every episode, at
the end of the day, there's always allowed to talk
about and y'all can talk about that anywhere with anybody,
but y'all are right here with me every single episode,
and I appreciate you guys for that. I will see
(18:25):
you guys, and my next one
I'm a homegrow that knows a little bit about everything
and everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I don't know if you don't lie about that, right,
Lauren came in.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, guys, it's Laura l. Rosa and this is the
Latest with Laura L. Rosa, your daily digests and breakdown
of all things pop culture, entertainment, news, trending topics, and
the conversations that shake the room. Baby Now today, briand
the scenes of the Grind checking in. If y'all can't
feel my energy through the podcast, through the audio, through
(00:31):
the visual, however you're seeing me, however you're hearing me.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
It's very refreshed.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I told you guys in my last episode, a weekend
at home with the family does the body to mind
the spirit good. So excited to be back at work.
We are back at the breakfast club today. I did
not show up here and was here by myself because
no one else was at work, which is what happened
to me on the episode previous to this one. Go
back and take a listen to that if you want
(00:57):
to laugh at me. But I came back to work
off of the vacation too early, and then boom, I
was here by myself, so.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm feeling good, and I've been.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
You know, just digesting a lot of There was so
much that happened over the weekend, like I've been, you know,
just digesting and kind of you know, catching up. This
was probably one of the first weekends where I told
myself that I was going to intentionally just disconnect because
I've been working so much prior to that, And baby.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Did I do it. But one of the things that
I was.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Seeing a lot of and you know, we normally get
into the latest here. This is the latest though, because
this is news. It made headlines all over from CNN
to Essence themselves to you know, everywhere you can think of.
But it's also been a big conversation just across social
media and everywhere I've went following the Essence Festival that
(01:45):
happened over the July fourth weekend. The conversation that people
are having right now is about everything that went wrong
at Essence Festival. People are pointing out the time that
Laurence Hill went on stage, which Essence Festival has come
out in our but he said, hey, that was not
her fault, that was our fault. People were talking about
there were you know, suites set up that the year
(02:09):
prior to this were not just VIP suites for people
to attend, but this year they were kept as VIP suites,
and Essence Festival came out and said, hey, look we
had some last minute changes.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Was that our fault.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Yes, Essence has come out and took accountability for a
lot of you know what it seems like to be
logistical mishaps that took place. I've also been seeing people
have conversations about the fact that there just weren't a
lot of people at Essence Festival this year. I went
to Essence Festival probably about like five years ago now,
and you could barely walk through the Convention Center, which
(02:42):
is where like a lot of the it's like the
Dome area, which is where a lot of the events
and the concerts and stuff were taking place that year.
I don't know how they had it set up this year,
but it was so many people there that, you know,
luckily we stayed in a hotel close to where all
the main events were because you couldn't even get in
an uber to go around corner. You'll be waiting in
an uber, like literally in your uber, sitting still for
(03:03):
like an hour, just trying to make it a block
or two, because that's how many people Essence Festival brings
to New Orleans every year, and people were talking about
the fact that was different this year. And again, we
know times are hard right now. Financials are hard on
people right now. Things are expensive right now. So there's
a lot that I want to get into because I ran,
I came across this clip, and I thought that this
(03:26):
clip was very powerful because the clip talked a lot
about just where we should be at mind state wise
when we talk about things that belong to us, especially
when we talk about it publicly.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Let's take a listen.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
I just got back from Essence Fest, and I've seen
a lot of the online commentary, and I think that
there's one important distinction that we need to make early
and often. That is the distinction between feedback and fellowship.
Some of you just seem to be in love with
the idea of providing negative feedback. I've even seen feedback
from people who weren't actually at the event. I will
(04:02):
remind us it is important for us to protect our stuff. Now. Look,
nothing is perfect and there are always opportunities to improve,
but the spirit in which we do that is super important.
Feedback often is about just critiquing the product. Fellowship protects
the product. Feedback is transactional where fellowship is transformational. These
(04:23):
sort of distinctions are the things that I deeply encourage
us to be thinking about as we're talking about one
of the very important institutions that we have in our community.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Now, that clip was actually a gentleman by the name
of Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Shout out to Ryan Wilson.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
He is the CEO and co founder of a space
called The Gathering Spot. Now, the Gathering Spot is you know,
for us, by us, you know, they've been through their
own things. We won't get into that, we can only
focus on one conversation at the time. But the Gathering
Spot is people will equate it to that of a
SOHO house, which is, you know, you pay to be
(04:58):
a member of a community. You're able to come, eat, drink, fellowship,
do events, work, throw events yourself. It's all about community,
but it's very focused on black people, people of color,
but black people. So he attended Essence Festival, and you know,
he had also saw some of the fallout following the
weekend and he made those comments. Now, I've been seeing
(05:19):
the fallout and I didn't really know how to feel
about it. I normally don't like to talk about things
if I didn't experience it or go there myself. But
when I saw Ryan's video, I was like, you know what,
I do want to talk about it because I appreciated
the angle that Ryan took on this.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
I want to give you guys some history.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
So for anyone who is not familiar with Essence Festival,
Essence Festival is an extension of Essence Magazine. Essence Magazine,
I'm hoping you guys would know, but if you do not,
Essence Magazine is a cultural staple for a black narrative,
black conversation, black women, black fashion, just black black, black
(05:59):
black things us. When Essence Magazine was created, it was
actually created with the vision to solely focus on Black
women and our stories, our narratives, again, our fashion, and
just give us a place that was ours and an
ally in the media space because there was nothing like that,
and it was actually, you know, from very on site,
(06:20):
it was deemed, you know, by onlookers to you know,
as something that wouldn't be successful because at the time,
black women were you know, censored, Like people love to
talk about Black women and what we've accomplished now and
you know how much of the buyer and consumer market
we take up, and you know how educated we are,
and all those things are great, but that has not
always been the focus of media and of you know,
(06:43):
these entities in the media. And even now people will
argue that the focus is there for us, but people
don't always enjoy it what the angle is on the focus. Like,
you know, they don't like the fact that you talk
about trauma. When we talk about black women and all
these things. It's not always just positive. But Essence Magazine
set out very early on to reshape that and to
gain control of that, and they did. They've dominated for
(07:04):
over fifty years. And in nineteen ninety six they decided
to create the Essence Festival, which was an in person
experience that was an arm of the magazine. So all
things black very central and focused on Black women and
what feels our mind, body and spirit. And you know,
black men and everybody else are They're able to come.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
But if you ever gone.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
I went to Essence Festival some years ago, it feels
like a family reunion.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
I mean, I've never seen so many black people, not
even just women. Because it's grown bigger than just black women.
Everybody comes to Essence Festival, even though we are the focus.
I've never seen so many black people in T shirts
and you know, like they're at their family reunions and
dressed toke and you know, generations of families. They're experiencing
all of the concerts and you know, all of the
(07:53):
learning and the live conversations and the food and just
all the things. It's a very beautiful experience if you've
never been. So when I saw all the breakdowns this
year online on TikTok and all these places and all.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The articles written, it kind of broke my heart.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
But you know again, I wanted to be neutral and
just kind of see, you do people have a point.
And what I think right when I'm talking about Essence
Festival and the reason I'm talking about the history it
is that I agree with Ryan wholeheartedly. I feel like
we have to really there's nothing wrong with criticism and critique.
I think that we should be able to criticize and critique.
I think that brands and businesses alike, whether you're black, white,
(08:31):
or yellow, should hear that from people that are spending
their money, especially during a time where they don't have
the money to spend. But I do think that, you know,
some of the commentary that I've been seeing has been
unfairly placed, unfairly targeted, and it seems very like I'm
throwing this away, like I'm done with Essence. I'm done
with Essence Festival. So that's breakdown number one. Some of
(08:55):
the critiques, so you know, logistics seemed like it was
an issue this year at Essence Festival. Fans were pissed
off because Lauren Hill was a part of the live
performances along with Lucky Day, Coco Jones, Glorilla nas or
A Lennox, Tamar Braxton, the Isisley Brothers. There was a
Waiting to Hell tribute because Adam Blackstone and Keep Sweat
(09:17):
or celebrating you know, so many years of the soundtrack.
But Lauren Hill got on stage and baby, they it
was late, okay. And when I say late, I don't
mean her performance was late, like it wasn't a good performance.
I mean the time that she got on stage was late.
She did not finish her performance until three forty a m.
She got on stage after midnight and she performed you
(09:39):
know a few songs. Once this happened, fans got online
and they even in the Essence comments. You know, when
Essence posted Lauren Hill's performance video and some of her
photos online, you know, the fans were quick to get
in the comments and say, you know, I enjoyed everything
up until this point because we waited hours and you
(10:00):
know it was too late. I left, and you know,
things of that nature. And the headline that quickly spread
because of our reaction just from misunderstanding. Right, it's not
our fault if we don't know. But I'm saying this
to make a point. So when you google Essence Festival,
the first few headlines you see people dot com Lauryn
Hill played to a nearly empty super Dome until three
(10:21):
thirty seven am in New Orleans CNN. Lauren Hill took
the Essence Festial stage super late, and organizers want you
to know it wasn't her fault. That's a very fair
headline a variety. Essence Festival defends Lauren Hill's delayed two
am performance. Essence Festival actually came out and posted a
statement because of all the coverage that picked up because
(10:44):
of people's reactions to the time that Lauryn Hill got
on stage.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
And they said in the caption.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Family is family, and around here we protect our own
no matter what the people will have to say. Let's
be clear, we don't play about Miss Lauren Hill, not
for clicks, not for headlines. She arrived on schedule, stepped
on that stage and delivered the kind of performance only
a legend can the delay dot not hers, and we'll
take that the moment one for the books, the legacy
(11:10):
still unmatched. Put some respect on her name. Keep the takes,
but keep her out of them. They also ended up
responding to the notion that no one showed up to
Essence Festival this year. They posted a video of what
the super don't look like when NAS performed, and they
said basically like now, who said, what excuse us?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Was the caption that they get that? That's what the
caption gave.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
I know there were people upset that Essence decided to
work with Target because of all the Target rollbacks and
you know, the DEI things that have been a conversation.
I saw Timmy Ka Mallory and she talked about her
decision to skip Essence Festival. You know, with TIMMYK and Mallory,
when we talk about like having critique and criticism but
(11:51):
making it something that like a brand or a business,
like an Essence magazine. In Essence, the company can hear
and take from. You know, I think I like the
that She responded, So she talked about, you know, she's
been going to Essence Festival for over twenty years. She
talked about it's more than an event. I told y'all,
it's a spiritual recharge, the celebration of everything that makes
being a black on powerful, complex and so beautiful. So
(12:12):
not being this year it's heavy. I miss my friends
in that good food. But stepping away from something I
love is never easy. But as leaders, we are often
called to dude what's uncomfortable in service of what is necessary.
They joined the boycott against Target, and it wasn't just
about boycott and the one corporation, but she said that
there have been a rollback of respect for black people,
(12:32):
our progress and our black political power and economic power.
And she says that, you know, it hasn't gotten enough
coverage about you know, what they're doing and why they're
doing it. But she says, you know, go ahead, family,
enjoy Essen's festival. Dance connects, celebrate the fullness of black experience.
But when you see that red bullseye, keep walking, don't
take or post any of the swag. Don't let the
brand co opt our culture while betraying our people. The
(12:55):
fight is bigger than one brand or one booth. It's
about standing on business. Standing for justice is standing to
the right side of history. We can love Essence and
still take the stand. So remember when you see the
red bulls eye walk by, with the spirit of our
ancestors or powers to the people. So her whole point
was I'm not gonna tear Essence down because this is
the festival in a concert in an institution that I love.
But I'm gonna tell y'all what y'all should do in
(13:15):
spite of that right. And whether that actually was successful
or not, I thought that it was constructive because she
didn't tear us down like one of the things I
watched this docu series about Essence magazine in the Essence
brand in general and its inception and why it was
created and what it stood for. At some of the
times that Essence has had to stand next to us
and really take a stand, and I think that's why,
(13:38):
you know, a lot of people are outraged at the
way that people's responses have been to the Essence Festival experience,
although you know some of them may be warranted.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
I can't imagine.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
You know, you're waiting for hours and you know all
these things and things are not being explained to you.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
But I think it's a do we throw.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Away Essence Festival conversation that a lot of people are
upset about, because, you know, Essence at one point in
time was it was what we had and all we had.
I learned about when Vanessa Williams, you know, was the
first black Miss America and there were some new photos
of her that made it onto a magazine that she
did not approve of, and because of that, she had
(14:15):
to resign her title. And Essence was the magazine that
she used to help to reclaim her narrative and recharge
her brand and her career, and they stood beside her
regardless of how other people were reviewing her because of
those photos and the fact that she had to step
away from Miss America. Being able to have a home
in the media like that is so important, and for
this media brand to be able to do something like
(14:37):
an Essence Festival, where you know, they're employing all of
these people, they're bringing together all this money in the sake.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Of black people and black things.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
We can argue all day long about what you think
they could do better and not do better, but I
think it's important that when you do argue, you understand
that like people hear us, and I'm speaking to us
because I'm speaking to the black people listening. I know
it's a million of y'all low writers out there, so
it may not just be black people, but I'm speaking
to us when I say I've had to learn a
lot about when you get on the microphone, when you
(15:05):
get on a social media platform. You know, wherever you
have a voice, making that something that like when you
say these things and when you put these things out there,
there is a there's always a responsibility for us. We
don't have a choice, there's always a responsibility for us.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
So making is something that you know makes sense.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
If essence is an active, real time owning up and
being accountable for where they messed up and wanted to
fix and rectify, I think we begin to have conversations
about that. Okay, here's where you correctify, Here's what I
didn't appreciate, and here's what I think you could do better,
versus just saying this, why I can't support nothing black.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
There was a superdome mix not super Dome.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
But there was a sweet experience that people complained a
lot about too, and I begin to see that on
TikTok and since addressed it, they use their social media
to address it and they say, look, this experience used
to be this way, it is now this other way.
Did we get it correct?
Speaker 2 (15:59):
No, we did not. Are we open to being accountable
and changing? Yes we are.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
We need more brands like that, because who else y'all
know hearing y'all hearing us and caring about us enough
to want to make sure the catered experience is that
which it has always been, where it feels like a
family reunion, it feels like home. The whole point in
all of is is to encourage you, guys to you know,
if you are one of the people that attend the
Essence Festival this past weekend, did not enjoy your experience
(16:25):
and your online talking.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
About it, I don't think you got to go out
to your experience.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I think your experience is yours, and I think it's
important if you feel like it's important for the right
reasons to get.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Online and express it.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
But I think we also have to really ask ourselves
a question when you decide to And this is something
I had to learn in this and I'm still learning.
When you decide to get on the mic and you
decide to use your voice, is it to help or
is it to hurt? And if it is to hurt,
why do you want to do that to someone that
looks like you, that is building, you know, a company
that stands for you, and regardless who the partners are,
(16:58):
right like, we don't always have to agree with those things,
but it takes.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Money to make money.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
So if we can cater how the money's been given,
who it's from, who we're involved with, what the experience
is like, if we can open our mouths to adjust
that and polish that, I would take that over us
just having nothing. We need Essence Magazine, we need Essence Festival.
These are places for us, These are experiences for us.
I know I've been going for a minute, y'all, but
(17:24):
I mean, I don't know. I guess it could qualify
as in the streets, in the tweets, outside we outside,
we outside.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Outside of tweet every other page.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
When I say it was so loud over the weekend,
I was like, man, they ain't come in Essence no breaks.
I would love to hear from some of you guys,
some of the low Riders who may have been at
Essence Festival.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I did not attend this year.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I chose to be with family, but shout out to
Essence though the team there, they did reach out for
me to attend. And that's not why I did this
whole spiel. I did it because I truly felt this way.
Let me know how did you guys feel? What did
you experience? I know I saw nads perform myself. It's
just so many different people performing, so y'all had to
(18:04):
have fun somewhere. Let me know how y'all felt about it.
We'd love to hear from you, guys. This has been
the latest with Laura lu Roza, a dedicated episode to
Essence Magazine because without them, you wouldn't have me, Lord Riders.
I tell y'all at the end of every episode, at
the end of the day, there's always allowed to talk
about and y'all can talk about that anywhere with anybody,
but y'all are right here with me every single episode,
and I appreciate you guys for that. I will see
(18:25):
you guys, and my next one
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