By Jasmine Browley ·Updated May 6, 2024 Mere hours after being laid off from Twitter during Elon Musk’s takeover, its former global head of social & editorial, Alphonzo Terrell launched a competitor app, SPILL. Now, less than two years later, he’s poised tosrc="https://www.essence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Screen-Shot-2024-03-25-at-12.06.42-PM.png" alt="Could SPILL Be The Black-Owned Replacement For TikTok?  " width="400" height="226" /> “The idea behind SPILL was really motivated from some very personal experiences working at major platforms before,” Terrell tells ES ..read more

By Jasmine Browley ·Updated May 6, 2024 Earlier this year, entertainment attorney Aurielle Brooks married the man of her dreams. When the couple first started dating, she shared it with her colleagues-turned-friends, who happily congratulated her on the burgeoning relationship. But once news got around to her clients, the reception was mixed. “It was definitely a thing,” Brooks tells ESSENCE. “As women in probably any industry, honestly, but especially in the entertainment sector, you are just immediately perceived differently {after partnering with someone}. After sharing photos of my hu ..read more

By Melissa Noel ·Updated May 7, 2024 “The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis” sheds light on a crucial aspect of medical history that had long been overlooked: the significant contributions of Black nurses in combating tuberculosis in New York City.  These nurses played a pivotal role in helping  develop treatments and prevention strategies for the contagious lung infection which was once one of the deadliest diseases in the world, killing one in seven people.  Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression and spanning into the 1960s ..read more

Getty Images By Robyn Mowatt ·Updated May 6, 2024 After a yearlong wait, the Met Gala 2024 is finally here. The theme of the evening, “The Garden of Time,” allowed celebrities and their teams to share their unique perspectives on this term. What came next? Creatives and artists flocked to New York City and showed up wearing fantastic ensembles. One of our favorite stars of the night was Zendaya, who wore an otherworldly custom Maison Margiela gown. Her key moment was spearheaded by the talent Law Roach. Others who grabbed our attention as soon as they arrived include Colman Domingo, who a ..read more

Getty Images By Kerane Marcellus ·Updated May 6, 2024 This week the Doja Cat has been parading throughout New York City in Avant-garde looks alongside Vetements designer Guram Gvasalia. Those teasers gave us a taste of what to expect for Doja Cat’s Met Gala 2024 look.  From a saran wrap two-piece set, a literal bed sheet wrapped around her, and a towel, she walked out from the Mark Hotel to the Met Gala; her official look was still just as surprising as her teasers. The rapper stepped onto the carpet in a long, white, and oversized T-shirt dress that had a wet-look effect. This is th ..read more

Justin Milhouse By Rachael Thomas ·Updated May 6, 2024 Upon entering a room of Tiff Massey’s new exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Arts, you’re immediately enraptured. “Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois” by the Detroit-bred artist is an awe-inspiring experience. One artwork is comprised of a wall-to-floor canvas donning Kankelon hair of various shades of green. Massey elaborately braided and twisted the hair into sculptures and adorned them with beads. This work, titled, “I’ve Got Bundles and I Got Flewed Out (Green)” pays homage to her hometown’s hair salons. But it also delves into the ..read more

By Jazmine Denise Thompson · The post The Great Divide: How Motherhood Fractures Friendships And Why We Should Work To Repair Them appeared first on Essence ..read more

By Essence & Okla Jones ·Updated May 6, 2024 Tiffany Boone who plays Gwen, the wife of Huey P. Newton in The Big Cigar spoke with ESSENCE about her character, as well as the role that women played in the movement. One of the common misconceptions of the Black Panther Party is that it was made up of an incredibly masculine group of men, however in reality, half of the Panthers were women. “The women were really the heart and soul of the Party and you can’t tell the story of the Party or of Huey without them,” Boone said in a statement. “Huey needs her because she’s one of the few people ..read more

@anokyai / Instagram By India Espy-Jones ·Updated May 6, 2024 The weekend brought major glam moments, getting us excited for fashion’s biggest night of the year: The Met Gala. On the other hand, some celebs stuck to classics:neutral beats, blonde or black hair, and nude manis included. To start the weekend off, Rihanna shocked Miami (before being spotted in New York) with a new pink hair>natural-looking nails. Then, Willow Smith showed off a round afro and grills at her Jimmy Fallon performance and Lupita N’yongo hit off a press tour for her new film A Quiet Place: Day One. She opted f ..read more

By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated May 6, 2024 Asthma Awareness Month is observed every May. Asthma is a chronic lung disease that can cause wheezing, breathlessness, tightness in the chest, and coughing. According to the American Lung Association, over 26 million people in America are living with this condition. Similar to other health conditions, there are clear racial disparities for members of the Black population suffering from asthma. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health reports that in 2019, Black Americans “were 30 percent more likely to have asth ..read more