00:00Now, once again, you guys have been an absolutely beautiful, beautiful audience today.
00:06Give yourself a round of applause.
00:08Y'all showed up and showed up.
00:10Give yourself a round of applause.
00:13So we are closing out day two here at the Essence stage,
00:17and we have a very special moment celebrating 55 years of Essence.
00:22And here to lead us through that moment,
00:24please welcome Essence Chief Content Officer Michelle G.
00:31Hey! No, stay here.
00:34This mic is on.
00:35No, you come stand with me.
00:37Okay, so why is it so smoky in here?
00:40They don't want to see how beautiful we are.
00:42They are on fire.
00:44They are?
00:44We are out here on fire.
00:45So can we just give it up for Ms. Eva?
00:47We love you.
00:49So this is the power that we have.
00:51She did an event for us called the Fashion House.
00:54It was in New York, right?
00:56And she did such a good job.
00:57I was like, she must come to a festival.
00:59We love you, sis.
01:01I love you so much.
01:02All right, thank you, thank you.
01:03So listen, have you heard this already?
01:05It's our 55th anniversary, Essence magazine.
01:07Come on, give it up.
01:08For 55 years, we have been serving black women,
01:11and I want you guys to pay attention to this, okay?
01:14Because I'm going to give you guys just a little story,
01:16and then I'm going to bring out someone amazing.
01:18But at 18 years old, I decided not to go to college.
01:23At 26, I was cleaning people's homes.
01:26There's nothing wrong with that.
01:27At 30, I graduated from college.
01:30At 40, I decided to stop being just so crazy.
01:34And I didn't become really successful until I was 50.
01:37I just want you to know God's not done with you.
01:40No, I'm being dead serious.
01:42We are still in the miracle-making business.
01:44God is amazing.
01:46He has a blessing for us.
01:47We are here.
01:48This whole thing that we put together is free because we love you.
01:52And we want you to be everything you're supposed to be.
01:55So have a good time, but understand that you might be sitting next to
01:59somebody who can fund your business,
02:01that you might bump into somebody who wants to support you,
02:04that one day you might be in our magazine.
02:07Come on, people.
02:08She said you guys were a good audience.
02:11I don't know what's going on.
02:14So on our July-August cover, I had the honor and privilege of having
02:20Ms. Susan Taylor, who started this 31 years ago.
02:24And she graced our covers.
02:26And she is amazing.
02:27So I'm going to bring out Asha Bendeli, who works with Ms. Susan Taylor.
02:31She's a special advisor.
02:32We have a special message for you.
02:33So I want you to give her the same energy.
02:35No, give her more energy than you gave me.
02:38Ms. Asha Bendeli.
02:39Ms. Asha Bendeli, don't you go away.
02:42Don't you go away.
02:43We haven't been here for years.
02:45Why are we coming back?
02:46Because the G brought us back.
02:48Ms. Yes.
02:48Ms. We brought Susan Taylor back.
02:50Come on, Asha's be coming home.
02:51Ms. Michelle and G.
02:52Yes, I love it.
02:53Ms. We're the Asha's family out here.
02:55Ms. I'm going to stand here.
02:56Ms. It is so good to see you all.
02:59It's been a long, long time.
03:01And I'm here honored in Susan's stead because when she handed the reins to a new generation
03:11of editors in 2008, she did so because it was right in the wake of Katrina, just two
03:16years afterwards, and she saw how many of our children had been in pain here, struggling
03:21here, dying here, left without parents here.
03:25And then we saw it all over the country.
03:27So what began as Essence Cares in 2006 is today the National Cares Mentoring Movement
03:33with 58 affiliates.
03:35We've got more affiliates here.
03:36We've got more cares people here.
03:3858 affiliates across the United States.
03:41And we are transforming lives and saving lives at a time that couldn't be more urgent.
03:47We don't like to talk about depression, even though we know we live with it.
03:51We know it's in our family.
03:53We know some of us feel it.
03:54Depression is one of the most manageable illnesses you could ever have.
04:02But when you don't manage it, it leads to suicide.
04:05And we are facing a crisis.
04:06It's our babies as young as five years old.
04:10But we are the people, we are the people who, the day we were liberated from slavery, walked
04:17as much as 1,000 miles to go get our family.
04:19So join me in listening to Ms. Susan Taylor, because we are going to get our babies.
04:36You know, Essence was always more than a magazine, even more than a mission.
04:40Essence is a mandate to see, support, and secure the lives of our sisters and those they love.
04:46We know that when Black women are loved, respected, and resourced, the whole community rises.
04:54And that's what calls me to this moment with you.
04:58The village is on fire.
05:00Our children are crying out to us for help.
05:02They're crying out from neglected communities and gravely under-resourced schools.
05:06Some graduating are young from high school, reading at a second grade level.
05:11You know what they have planned for them.
05:14Labeled, targeted, and harmed, the many of our babies are just sad to the bone.
05:20Since 2007, the rate of suicide among Black children as young as five has risen a heart-shattering
05:28144%.
05:29Our transformational work in National Cares, it heals trauma, it instills hope, and creates
05:37pathways to the bright futures that all children long for and deserve.
05:42We are the singular organization in the country doing this work for our babies on a national scale.
05:47When we know our history, we know that this is not the rough side of the mountain.
05:51We know that when we link arms and aims, there is no challenge we cannot overcome.
05:58So here's what I'm asking of you.
06:00Please don't turn away.
06:01Our children need our help.
06:03Each of you, please pledge $5, $10, $25 a month.
06:08Do that, and I promise you, we can end this tragedy of Black child suicide and the poverty
06:13that drives it.
06:15National Cares has a blueprint for transformation, but we cannot realize it without you.
06:20Scan our QR code, please, or text CARES to 44321.
06:26CARES to 44321.
06:28Right now, make a recurring donation, and you choose the amount.
06:33Let's not lose our children to suicide, not on our watch.
06:37Let's get the job done.
06:39Let's do it together.
06:40And thank you for taking this moment with me, for the love of our children.
06:45Susan L. Taylor, Queen of Black America.
06:50So, I'm going to ask Michelle G to come out here and help me, because we've got to do it together.
06:57The fact is, we can change the predictable outcomes of our children who have horrors piled on them again and again.
07:06Schools that are under-resourced.
07:08Teachers using their own money.
07:09And I want to introduce to you, standing with Michelle, is our first ever and brand-new president,
07:16Ms. Renee Danielle Daniel-Flagler.
07:21And we're going to do what Susan asked.
07:24We're going to do it, and we're going to get our friends to do it.
07:26I'm asking you to please, please, scan the QR code.
07:31Scan the QR code, if we can get that back up there.
07:33And, oh, wait a minute, I'm getting, I have a call.
07:40All right, let me add a mic, because I'm going to challenge people.
07:43Ms. Susan on the call.
07:44All right, so I'm going on the thing.
07:46I'm going to donate $1,000 myself right now.
07:49I'm going to put my money where my mouth is.
07:51I'm not going to buy a pair of shoes this month.
07:53I'm going to donate to this amazing foundation.
07:56So, I'm doing it right now with Apple Pay.
07:58And all it, $5, $10, whatever it is.
08:01I just wanted to say thank you so much for coming.
08:04Ms. Taylor, it is an honor.
08:06It is an honor to be part of your orbit.
08:10Yes.
08:12Yes.
08:13I love that.
08:14I love that.
08:15Thank you guys for your time.
08:17Thank you guys for your attention.
08:19And thank you guys for supporting something, because our babies matter.
08:23We love you guys so much.
08:26Ms. Eva, take us to our, don't leave,
08:30because we got a good performance for you.
08:33Ms. Eva.
08:34Ms. Eva.
08:34Ms. Eva.
08:34Ms. Eva.
08:35Ms. Eva.
08:36Ms. Eva.
08:37Ms. Eva.
08:38Ms. Eva.
08:39Ms. Eva.
08:40Ms. Eva.
08:41Ms. Eva.
08:42Ms. Eva.
08:43Ms. Eva.
08:44Ms. Eva.
08:45Ms. Eva.
08:46Ms. Eva.
08:47Ms. Eva.
08:48Ms. Eva.
08:49Ms. Eva.
08:50Ms. Eva.
08:51Ms. Eva.
08:52Ms. Eva.
08:53Ms. Eva.
08:54Ms. Eva.
08:55Ms. Eva.
08:56Ms. Eva.
08:57Ms. Eva.
08:58Ms. Eva.
08:59Ms. Eva.
09:00Ms. Eva.
09:01Ms. Eva.
09:02Ms. Eva.
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