Will and Jada Smith grace the cover of the December issue of Essence Magazine. The couple’s cover story is about “Black Love” and their close relationship. Do you think Will and Smith symbolize the true “essence” of black love? Let us know your thoughts.

More Pics: (more…)

Essence.com caught up with “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” loud and abnoxious, NeNe. Love that girl. In an X-clusive interview, NeNe talks about the inside scoop on the successful show, exotic dancer rumors, and her breaking free from an abusive relationship in the past…Check out the interview here:

ESSENCE.COM: NeNe, the show has become such a hit! Without giving away too much, what can we expect from the rest of this season on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”?

NENE LEAKES: You will see alliances change among the girls and find out whether or not Curtis is my father. When I found out the results of the DNA test, I [was] surprised, and you will also see my son going off to college at Clark Atlanta University.

ESSENCE.COM: There has definitely been some conflict between you and a couple of the other ladies on the show. What are your relationships like with Sheree and Kim today? (more…)

Jesse Jackson gets up close and personal with the editors of Essence and speaks about his remarks toward Sen. Barack Obama. He also talks about his role at the upcoming Democratic National Covention.

In a candid interview with the editors of Essence, Jesse Jackson speaks on his remarks about Sen. Barack Obama, the role he’ll play at the upcoming Democratic National Convention and why he’s still relevant. Contrary to the reports that said that he would not attend, Jackson says, he will be there but only as an Obama supporter and nothing more.

Check out excerpts from the interview:

ESSENCE.COM: Many younger African-Americans have been complaining that the old guard civil rights leaders focus too much on African-Americans as victims rather than moving the race forward. What do you think about this point of view?
JACKSON: This “old guard, new guard” is an unhealthy division. Politics must be inter-generational. You need Barack on the one hand to talk, you need Charlie Rangel, chair of House Ways & Means [Committee], and John Conyers, chair of our House Judiciary [Committee]. In politics you grow by adding and multiplying, not by subtracting and dividing. So “old guard vs. new guard” is not a healthy combination. The reality is that we achieved the right to vote, we achieved freedom, but we didn’t achieve equality, and that is the remaining civil rights work. (more…)

Rihanna is in the September issue of Essence magazine and she looks FAB! Check out some of the pics: (more…)

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama joins wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia on the September 2008 cover of Essence Magazine. Damn, Obama’s are on every cover! Great Publicity! (more…)

Mario gets a lil’ personal with Essence.com about his Do Right Foundation and his mother’s drug addiction. His foundation helps kids in drug-prevalent environments cope, something that Mario had to deal with growing up. In 2007, Mario allowed MTV to capture his life with his mother who was battling a 20-year drug addiction. Mario says he fears that his mother might relapse, but channels is fears in his Do Right Foundation. Check out his interview with Essence.com wherein he talks about his mother’s addiction, his future legacy, and the steamy rumors about him and Dancing With the Stars partner Karina Smirnoff. (more…)

As previously reported, Ruben Studdard and his girlfriend of nearly two years, Surata “Zuri” McCant, recently got married in a lavish, contemporary southern-style wedding in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. Essence got the opportunity to speak with the couple just 24 hours after their wedding and also got exclusive pictures from the beautiful ceremony…Check them out… (more…)

Yesterday we posted a preview of Usher and his son (Usher V) cover on Essence Magazine August issue. Check out the interview conducted by actor/author Hill Harper where he gets Usher to open up about fatherhood, his marraige and rumors…

Here is a sneak peak:

HILL HARPER: In the last year, you got married and you’ve had a baby. Which has changed you more?

USHER: They’re both linked—I can’t have one without the other. But the one thing that changed me the most is having a wife. Our child is an extension of that union.

HARPER: Why?

USHER: Because now I represent what he is to become. He’s gonna admire me, he’s gonna look up to me. He’s gonna say, “I wanna be”—or he should say— “I wanna be like my father. I wanna be a man of valor. I wanna possess what my father has as a man.” To get married was a choice. To have a child is a responsibility. (more…)

Check out a sneak peak of Usher and his Son cover shoot for Essence Magazine August issue. Isn’t Usher IV the cutest thing! The issue will be out soon!

The 14th Annual 2008 Essence Music Festival presented by Coca-Cola, taking place this Fourth of July weekend (July 4, 5, 6) will return to New Orleans to convene the country’s largest gathering of African-Americans to celebrate black music. The 2008 Essence Music Festival features performances by the largest assembly of black musical talent in the world, augmented by community-oriented Essence Empowerment Seminars led by the country’s most prominent African-American leaders. (more…)