00:09Please indulge me for a moment because I'm gonna take a little time to do
00:13something that I know my husband will not do today, and that is to fully sing his
00:19praises.
00:23That as unsettled as we are, people aren't looking for perpetual anger and division.
00:31They are looking for fairness and common sense and mutual respect, that deep in our gut we
00:39want to find a way to turn towards each other again, not further away.
00:49This is the story of Ebony.
00:51This is their mission.
00:52This is what they've done and chronicle the life of African-American success stories second
00:58to none.
00:58Is it important that you all see Ebony here to tell your story and just tell the story
01:02of the diaspora and the dance and the energy?
01:05Yes.
01:06It's very important for us to always have media outlets that tell our story from our perspective.
01:11We are not a monolith, but we have a distinct culture that needs to be represented and that
01:16deserves to be represented accurately.
01:18And having magazines with the history of Ebony out here to tell the story from our perspective
01:24and to speak of hope and change to our eyes and through our eyes is extremely important.
01:29And it's a way in which you document our experience in this nation.
01:34It was always something that made me proud in ways as a young person I never really quite
01:39understood, but as an older person I understand that it showed our people at our best.
01:45Ebony was special then and is special now.
01:48We don't have that many cornerstones in black society and Ebony is one of those liaisons between
01:59our normal life and seeing a life outside of that.
02:04And that's what Ebony always did best was to give us those stories of black people out there
02:11doing it, trying to make a better America.
02:13Ebony was born here 80 years now and today is just another day for us to tell an incredible
02:19historic story.
02:21Who had President Obama on their cover when he was first inaugurated, Ebony was able to
02:29capture him.
02:29For generations to come, they can always tune to Ebony knowing that we were here in these
02:35moments to tell our stories only the way that we know how.
02:39Ebony is so important in the broader culture that is America.
02:43They told our stories when nobody else would.
02:46We would sit around and we would see the very best presentation of black America and black
02:51culture.
02:51And as a result of that publication, some young girl now doesn't just believe that becoming
02:56president is an aspirational thing that could happen.
02:59This is big.
03:00Ebony is big.
03:00It's big in America.
03:02It's big internationally and we know what it stands for.
03:05Thank you for keeping our stories front and center and thank you for narrating it through
03:09our eyes.
03:10Thanks for today, I'll see you guys.
03:16Thanks for today.
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