For more than 20 years, Susan L. Taylor has encouraged millions of black women to revel in their beauty, their bodies and their sense of self- worth.
This November, the author of the popular Essence magazine column “In the Spirit,” will bring her message of restoration, faith and self-esteem closer to home. More than 250 black women are expected to hear Taylor and other speakers at the fourth-annual Sistah Summit Nov 3-6.
For the past three years, the summit has lured more than 500 women from the concrete of their urban environments to the awe-inspiring landscapes of Vail.
Attendees have their spirits renewed by embracing natural landscapes, experiencing spa treatments and attending workshops devised to empower and create community.
Now the summit hopes another Western cultural mecca, Santa Fe, will encourage attendees to “Let Your Spirit Soar,” this year’s retreat theme. Taylor, editorial director of Essence, is among the powerhouse speakers.
“We are hoping that Susan brings to us her quiet storm,” says Irene King, publicity chair of the summit. “She’s very positive and very motivating because of her own background and how she has developed her career. It’s always good to hear how people like her got to be where they are today, to know what’s really possible.”
Taylor discussed her views in an interview.
Q: Sistah Summit was created for black women to take time out for themselves. Why do women need events like this?
A: The Sistah Summit allows us to restore ourselves. Women come out of the womb believing we are here to serve everyone else other than our selves, especially among black women who are stressed with the multiplicity of working and caring for family members. Given the tragedy in the gulf region, most of us have Southern roots, so this has put even more pressure on our psyches, our souls and our dollars. Most women still feel guilty when we take time for ourselves. We are the first generation of African-American women who even have language that talks about self care. The word “spa” wasn’t even in our mothers’ and grandmothers’ vocabulary. One of the critical things we have to learn as women is to not give from an empty cup, to replenish and refill ourselves so our giving is done with joy.
Q: But how do you take time out when you are a busy professional who is working and taking care of family?
A: Even people who don’t have money to go to a spa have to discipline themselves to take time for themselves. Decide to lay in your bed this afternoon, take a day off from work, rinse those dishes and let them sit there over night. Very often our homes are pristine, things in our closets are lined up, but we are dying inside. Our lives are in chaos. We have to put ourselves on schedule; we have to schedule time for us. Driving out to the edge of town and sitting quietly, driving to the mountains and remembering the power of God and how grand and how big life is. There is nothing more important to our well-being than quiet, introspective time.
Q: You have been an avid supporter of efforts to empower the poor and move the black community forward. What do you see is needed to get the black community of the gulf region back on its feet after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina?
A: The will, that’s all that’s needed. We have the resources. We know it’s being dedicated to foreign lands and efforts that are so far away from the critical needs right here in this nation. We have the technology and economic and human resources. What’s missing is the compassion and the will. I’m hopeful the images we’ve seen on television over the last week have so shocked and shamed the nation (into action).
Q: Some people have remarked that racism and classism played a part in the flawed evacuation proceedings and media coverage of the hurricane. Do you agree or disagree?
A: Clearly racism, classism and sexism is so institutionalized in our nation that it has become a part of our cultural fabric. The African-American has not fully recovered from 250 years of slavery, and that is the truth. The poor people of New Orleans were suffering before the storm. The hurricane only amplified it. Looking at some of these cities and the ways some people are living, you’d think it was a third-world country. We really need to look more critically and more carefully at ourselves and heal the deep wounds of racism and classism in this nation, to make sure these families are given the kind of assurity each of us would want for our own.
Q: What is the status of black womanhood in America today? What strides have been made and what challenges do they still face?
A: In many ways we are the flowers in bloom. There is no sector you can name where there isn’t a black woman of achievement, whether it’s NASA, those who are rebuilding cities or people running corporations. We have Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state – although I’m not pleased with her politics one bit, but she is the most powerful woman in the world. Oprah Winfrey is right behind her in terms of reach and power. Black women are heading up major universities, are in the U.K. parliament, and the United States Congress. But that doesn’t negate the many black women who are struggling along the margins and who are counting on this society to find ways to shore up people looking for opportunities to become self-sufficient. I speak about spirituality, but people who know my work know I’m not speaking about it so we can find that place of peace within ourselves and retreat from the world.
Q: We have Oprah’s O magazine as well as standbys such as Ebony and Jet. What is Essence magazine’s role in black womanhood now? What is its message?
A: Our role is to give black women a voice, a place to talk about or lives and our issues, to assure black woman and affirm our beauty, our bodies, our intelligence and our ability that we really can make whatever we chose of our lives. That’s why we talk about the empowering lives of black women everywhere doing great works. When you see someone who looks like you doing powerful things, you know you can too. As we look at the images that media promote and we see all these long lean creatures, size 3 and 6 feet tall, it is a negation of black women’s bodies and our beauty. Essence continues to create a stage, a pedestal for black women and our daughters so they can revel and honor and celebrate their beauty, their hair, their hips, their noses and their butts. One of our main messages is to say, “You are enough. You are powerful, and there has never been a better time to be a black woman.”
Q: Who does Susan Taylor go to when she needs advice? Who do you look up too and model yourself after?
A: If I’m looking for spiritual advice, I turn to Maya Angelou. I’m not going to be writing “In the Spirit” the way I have for the last 25 years (with the advice coming from me). I will be interviewing wisdom warriors beginning in our October issue. These will all be people whose wisdom has helped me to grow and help my life.
Staff writer Sheba R. Wheeler can be reached at 303-820-1283 or swheeler@denverpost.com.
