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Shelby Stewart
Posts
The Black Girl’s Guide To Travel: How To Slay Your First ESSENCE Festival
The 2026 ESSENCE Festival of Culture Presented by Coca-Cola is just around the corner. If you have not purchased your tickets yet, you may miss…
The Black Girl’s Guide To Travel: Where To Stay In New Orleans Based On Your Vibe
New Orleans has always been that girl. Filled with mouth-watering cuisine, interactive museums, and one of the country’s most exciting bar scenes, Louisiana’s cultural capital…
A Guide To Juneteenth Celebrations Across The Country
As long as I can remember, Juneteenth was always celebrated in my house growing up. Maybe because my family on both sides are generationally Texan,…
Can You Expense Essence Fest? Asking For A (Creative) Professional Friend
Every June, my DMs start flooding with the same questions. The first: Do I have any extra tickets for ESSENCE Festival of Culture? The answer,…
Leon Thomas, Babyface And Public Enemy Added To ESSENCE Festival 2026 Lineup
For more than three decades, the ESSENCE Festival of Culture has returned to New Orleans as something bigger than a music festival. It’s a family…
‘Heart & Hustle: Houston’ Season 2 Turns Up the Drama
In a city where ambition moves as fast as the traffic on 610, OWN’s Heart & Hustle: Houston returns with a second season that digs…
Want To Be On Stage At ESSENCE Fest? Here’s The Real Way In
Every July, New Orleans transforms into the epicenter of Black culture, music, and empowerment as hundreds of thousands descend upon the city for ESSENCE Festival…
How My Fear Of The Single Black Mother Stereotype Kept Me In An Abusive Marriage
I was born a Black girl in New York City in the 1980s. It was a time when graffiti graced walls, Lojacks secured steering wheels,…
On ‘Real Housewives’ Performance Comes At A Price
The Real Housewives franchise has always been about the performance of wealth—aspirational, excessive, and just believable enough to keep us watching. When The Real Housewives…
Texas Judge Blocks Changes To HUB Program, Citing Executive Overreach
A Texas judge has temporarily blocked sweeping changes to the state’s Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) program, delivering an early legal victory to a coalition of…