Africa has been the object of much attention lately as saturated markets in America and Europe have caused many to seek opportunity on the continent. Answering this new wave of interest, Africa-centric magazines and digital destinations like Arise, AfriPOP!, Orijin Culture, and MIMI magazine have cropped up, while L’Uomo Vogue dedicated its June 2012 issue to the continent. Now, New York-based Ghana native Sandra Appiah has launched Face 2 Face Africa magazine with business partner Isaac O. Babu-Boateng.

With no major investment behind the venture, and determined to launch in costly print even as publications like Newsweek are migrating to digital, Appiah, 23, only four years out of Syracuse University’s prestigious Newhouse School of Public Communications, is unwavering in her belief in the magazine. What’s so special about Face 2 Face Africa, or F2FA as she’s nicknamed the magazine? Appiah makes the case.

Madame Noire: Why did you start Face2Face Africa (F2FA)?
Sandra Appiah: F2FA was conceptualized about two years ago to fill the void of a high-end, multi-niche, and soulful pan-African publication within the global magazine industry, and serve as an influential platform for the emergent generation of African descendants. We believe that an informed, enterprising, and interconnected pan-African generation deserves a discerning, eclectic, and soulful voice. Our goal, simply put, is to be this VOICE!

MN: How did you launch the magazine without major investment or backing?
SA: The lack of funding definitely posed a lot of challenges and elongated the release of the magazine. We were married to our goal of creating an outstanding product, and as such, we had to be very patient and strategically secure the resources that we needed. But once we started moving, we were very fortunate to receive a lot of support from individuals who identified with the importance of our mission. We utilized all our resources, and with persistence, devotion, and passion, we successfully launched. I’ve learned that when your passion burns, it turns into the investment that you need to keep going!

MN: Why did you decide to create a printed magazine in the age of digital?
SA: It is important to us that our publication has a presence on magazine stands. Sure, some experts say that print is dying, but there have remained quite a few print titles that continue to make an impact. I think the key is creating a niche and filling a void.

Certainly, F2FA is unique, as there is no existing publication that does exactly what we do in the way that we do it. We do have plans on being eminent on the digital platform so we can better serve the needs of all our readers.

MN: How is F2FA different from Arise, and other African lifestyle pubs on stands?
SA: These are all great publications that I give a lot of credit for showcasing Africa in a positive and progressive light, however, they are all known for a specific concentration, being fashion, culture, or entertainment, which is great. But what we wanted to do with F2FA was to be the bridge. As such, we take pride in being multi-niche, a platform for all areas including politics, development, entertainment, culture, and fashion. We are distinctive for our holistic approach and the unique perspectives of our writers and contributors. Our tone and creative direction are also different. It is important to us that African images, concepts and ideals are infused in our creative and artistic direction. This is where the soulfulness of our magazine comes from.

D. Salters/WENN.com

It has quickly become one of the most respected awards shows highlighting the successes of African-American women in almost any field but particularly the media and finally, we get to see what is going to unfold during the 2012 Black Girls Rock! awards show.

Hosted by actresses Tracee Ellis-Ross and Regina King, the show will air tonight on BET at 7p/ET. This year’s honorees include: singers Dionne Warwick, Alicia Keys and Janelle Monae, magazine legend Susan L. Taylor, activist Dr. Hawa Abdi and actress Kerry Washington.  There will also be performances by Ciara, Brandy, Keyshia Cole, India Arie and Alicia Keys. Men are allowed in on the act this year with performances from Luke James and Eric Benet.

The awards show is an extension of Black Girls Inc., founded by DJ Beverly Bond. The purpose of BGR is to foster the healthy development of young women and girls.  They aim to build the self-esteem and self-worth of young women of color by changing their outlook on life, broadening their horizons and helping them to empower themselves. It has been quite amazing watching the organization grow over the last few years.

Will you be watching?

While the deets of the interview aren’t available yet, Rihanna must have received the “green light” to unveil the November cover of Vogue magazine.  On the cover, with photos by Annie Leibovitz, Rihanna is rocking red lips and a red dress to go with her new short ‘do.

This cover story, of course, goes right along with her new album Unapologetic (we think that’s the name at this point) which is also set to drop next month.  She absolutely does not seem to stop working because she just finished touring for her last album over the summer and she’ll be right back at it at the top of the year to tour with Unapologetic.

While Vogue isn’t known for showcasing black women on the cover, Rih has snagged it twice in the States and once last year for British Vogue.  Her management team seems to be right in line with Rih’s work ethic, huh?

I wonder what she’ll be talking about. It seems like we know as much as she’s going to tell us at this point, doesn’t it?

What do you think of the cover?

Source: Vibe

For the June and July issue of Vibe, the good folks at the magazine made the random decision to have four very controversial reality stars on their cover: Evelyn Lozada, Tamar Braxton, Chrissy Lampkin, and Kandi Burruss. With the hilarious header, “Meet Your New Role Models,” (sarcasm with a twinge of painful reality in their voice) the ladies, dressed in very little, smile for the cover of the “Swexy issue.”

While the cover and images might have the men smirking and smiling, the interview was allegedly meant to allow the women to explain their less than ladylike behavior on television. Inside the magazine, the ladies were asked about everything from Star Jones and the “Basketball Wives” petition, to show producers orchestrating the violence and drama. Check the highlights:

When asked about Star Jones and the petition to get “Basketball Wives” off of the air:

Evelyn: [Bursts into laughter] I think she’s going to have to get a whole lot of names. Actually, I like the petition and I like the controversy because I’ve learned controversy is good. But I think she’s irrelevant. And she’s using our coattails to get relevant again. Nobody gives a f**k about her.

Chrissy: Whatever Star Jones is feeling is a little deeper than what she sees. I think she has her own issues.

Kandi: She may not be violent, but I’m sure she goes off on people in her day-to-day. I just don’t think it’s fair to block somebody from getting money.

 

On the misconceptions about Evelyn and how they’re disappointed the positive aspects of their lives don’t get shown:

Evelyn: Yeah, I happen to be throwing a few things. It’s frustrating because, on the other hand, I’ve also done positive things like charities with kids. It’s unfortunate because those things don’t seem to mean anything.

Chrissy: It bothers me [too] because it’s not all of who I am. It’s a part of who I am. It’s also something that I’m working on because who am I to put my hands on somebody else?

Tamar: I just wanna address the biggest misconception with Evelyn. She’s not just beautiful on the outside; she’s a beautiful soul. I believe that people who want to make a difference in our community should be shown [doing so]. Sometimes, with our shows, you only see that [negative] side, but Evelyn will give you the shirt off of her back.

Evelyn: It’s tough because if we were only doing positive things, people wouldn’t want us. But if I say, “Tamar, you’re a stupid f*****g b***h,” people love that.

Kandi: That’s because we’re a real life soap opera. You know how your family watched All My Children for 20 years? That’s what we are now.

 

On producers being the instigators of the violence you see:

VIBE: So you’re saying the producers orchestrated the violence?

Chrissy: Absolutely. They would go as far as telling the new girl, “Chrissy thinks she’s Queen Bee around here so we need you to step up because nobody here has a strong enough personality. We need you to shut it down.” They were feeding people this negative energy from the door. I have no reason to lie.

Kandi: If [the producers] know this person and that person don’t get along, they’ll be like, “Okay, we want you guys to go to lunch.” They know if they have a conversation about what’s going on, something’s gonna jump off. But nobody can make you physically punch somebody in the face. We end up doing that to ourselves from people being real disrespectful in the way they’re speaking to each other, pointing fingers all in people’s faces. Some people just can’t take that.

On regretting their actions AFTER the fact of course…

Chrissy: Absolutely. It’s like, why did I let them get me that angry? It’s compromising to your soul because I didn’t sign up for this, but I’ll be damned if I’m gonna allow somebody to make a fool of me because the cameras are rolling.

Evelyn: I do and [the bottle incident] was one of those things where I was like, “That was wrong.” The producers of the show could have edited that out but I take full responsibility. I mean, [Kenya] has kids at home.

And the big question: Does Evelyn’s daughter watch the show? And if so, what are her thoughts?

Evelyn: Yes, but if you know my daughter, you’ll know she doesn’t care about any of that. She’s very independent. She knows who mom is. And to her, mom is a character on a television show. [My daughter] knows that side of me because she’s seen both sides. The world hasn’t. But I take full responsibility for everything that I’ve done. It’s all me.

Tamar: This is what I’m saying—it’s not negative, because she learned from it. The beautiful part about it is that somebody can watch it and not make the same mistake. ’Cause sometimes when I watch Kandi, I wish I could be more like her. You’re never like, “Pop, pop, pop!”

Kandi: It takes a lot not to. The reason why I can be [so drama-free] on my show is that I wasn’t friends with [my castmates] before I got on the show. So anything they said didn’t matter to me. Tamar, you’re around your family, so you care.

Tamar: I mean, this is me, but if you family—cousin, brother, mother—you come at me crazy and I’m gon’ jump at you crazy.

 

Well all right. Not really sure what they were trying to do here, but it doesn’t give me an “ahaaaaa” moment or make me want to hug these women. In the end, after reading things over, they seem to want the controversy for the sake of getting paid, and want us to know, that hey, it is what it is. This is who they are and they’re indeed human. While it’s nice that they try to take responsibility for their own actions to an extent, they really don’t, because they turn around and say it’s the producers creating the drama. They probably are stewing the pot behind the scenes, but they’re not the ones forcing folks to fling bottles at people, stomp each other down in hotel rooms (over OTHER people’s business), and to be “popolicious” all the damn time. But I digress.

To read the interview in full, pick up the new June/July issue of Vibe, or you can go to their site and read the rest of what these chickenheads ladies had to say.

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Source: Imnotobsessed.com

Just when you think you can’t love Zoe Saldana anymore she turns around and does something else to make us do just that.

On the red carpet at the Cosmopolitan for Latinas launch party Wednesday night, Zoe was showered with praise for being the face of the mag’s first issue and when The Huffington Post asked the actress why she chose to cover Cosmo Latina when she can cover any magazine in the world she had to correct the interviewer just a teeny little bit.

“First of all I can’t yet pose for any magazine. I wish I could,” she told the Huffpost. “There are a lot of magazines that are still sort of…that only cater to a certain demographic and only put certain people on their covers,” she added. “And that’s fine – I never lose hope that one day certain big magazines can broaden their exposure of what is an American face.”

Don’t let the cute face and the petite stature fool you, though. Zoe’s just about done with white-washed magazine covers.

“I never like to get political, but when you have the ability, through your media, to influence a large mass of people, I would want to be a part of the evolving cycle of progress versus keeping things the way that they are. That said, I think that I speak for a lot of us, Americans, that I would want to see a little more diversity.

“It is happening, but not at the pace that it should be,” she added. “For the love of God, we have a Black president. That should’ve set the tone on a lot of things that should’ve been a little quicker, and it’s not enough.”

The good thing, Zoe said, is that there are magazines like Cosmo Latina who are celebrating diversity on their own terms.

“For me to have been invited to be the first on their cover, I feel so honored and grateful. To be seen and to be respected for my work and acknowledged as a true American Latina…means a lot to me.”

Check out more of her red carpet interview here. What do you think is the answer to more cover diversity in a non-print friendly market?

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Source: Theybf.com

Hearst Magazines has just launched a new offspring of Cosmo for Latinas and Puerto Rican-Dominican actress Zoe Saldana has snagged its first cover.

Cosmo already has a Spanish version of its magazine but this new glossy is targeted at English-speaking Latinas here in the US, and inside the first issue Zoe talks about being proud of her roots.

“People think of Latina women as being fiery and fierce, which is usually true. But I think the quality that so many Latinas possess is strength. I’m very proud to have Latin blood.”

The 33-year-old “Avatar” and “Colombiana” star also talks about the moment she realized she was meant to be an actress:

“I had to quit ballet because it felt like a part of me was dying inside. It takes a lot of courage to face up to things you can’t do because we feed ourselves so much denial … In dance you use every party of your body except your voice. I wanted to start acting because I wanted to use my voice.”

I can foresee Sophia Vergara covering a future issue of the magazine considering her popularity right now, but I think it’s a good move that Cosmo launched this mag with an afro-latina on the cover, hopefully that speaks to the inclusion that will come down the line.

Cosmopolitan for Latinas hits newsstands May 1. What do you think about this new glossy idea?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: celebritybrideguide.com

In an interview with the magazine Gala, Jada Pinkett Smith finally opened up about all those rumors swirling around that she and Will Smith’s relationship is on the rocks. Rumors were flying that she had picked up a divorce lawyer, was cheating with Marc Anthony (who was a guest star on her now-canceled show, “HawthoRNe”), and that Will even walked in on the two getting it in (and allegedly ran away crying). Even the kids had to go in on a few people through Twitter over the rumors. Though they had their reps speak on the alleged split last year, Jada wanted the world to know in her interview, from her own mouth, that she ain’t going anywhere anytime soon:

“Every year, one celebrity couple is under the microscope. This year, unluckily, it’s us! I almost want to say that we should have been expecting it. Will and I know the truth. We’re waiting peacefully for the storm to blow over.”

“These rumors are completely untrue. I travel a lot because of my work, just like Will does… But our lifestyle hasn’t changed. Before we had the kids, we were already far away from each other quite often because of separate projects.”

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Source: Photo by by Ysa Pérez courtesy of Complex

Another day, another opportunity for Solange Knowles to take over the world. If you don’t think she’s well on her way to doing so, then you probably haven’t peeped out her new spread in the current April/May issue of Complex (I ADORE that magazine by the way). In it, she gets fierce and funky in her usual wild prints and with a full fro, and she also talks about everything from reality TV, her cool a** parents, and being a submissive woman versus being too independent. Check it:

When asked whether she could see herself on Project Runway for her style or on Love and Hip Hop just because, she had this to say: “I’ve never seen Project Runway, but I’m a huge Chrissy [Love & Hip-Hop star Christine Lampkin] fan. I’d need to take boxing lessons from her first though, nahmean?”

She also made it clear that while she loves being independent, behind closed doors, she’s all about being submissive: “Strong, independent women share this sentiment of wanting to be taken over sexually behind closed doors. It’s the natural balance for a woman like me.”

And she even touched on why she would have preferred to know her parents when they were young rather than to know them now. Why? Because they were pretty hip. Or at least Miss Tina was:

“My mother was the most stylish, flawless woman I’ve ever seen. My father had a little cool, but my mother was a different breed of cool. I’ve looked through photographs of her that inspire me today. She’s partied at Studio 54, hung out in ski chalets in Colorado, and played Cleopatra in a play in Egypt. She’s insanely cool in her 50s, but I wouldn’t pass up being with her in her prime!”

Check out more photos from the shoot below, and click over to Complex.com to see behind the scenes video of it, and also to check out the rest of the interview. Go Solo!

Source: Photos by by Ysa Pérez for Complex

Source: Photo by by Ysa Pérez courtesy of Complex

Source: Photo by by Ysa Pérez courtesy of Complex

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We showed you Essence‘s issue dedicated to Whitney Houston not too long ago, and Ebony is doing the same with their April issue, putting aside 40 pages to commemorate the singer’s life and work. For all the collectors out there, the issue will also have 12 of the 17 covers Houston did for the magazine in her career. On top of that, the magazine’s April issue will cover the ups and downs of her career, go behind the scenes of the much anticipated film, Sparkle (Whitney’s last movie appearance), drug abuse issues in the music industry, her relationship with Bobby Brown, her style, and a rundown of the top 10 songs from the late singer. I’m pretty excited about this issue, and if you are too, pick it up on newsstands on March 20.

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Gabrielle Union’s February Essence cover with Dwayne Wade caught a few side eyes considering the couple’s history, but for the most part people supported the celebration of black love and marveled at their gorgeous photos.

The shoot was the first time we’d seen the two so open with their relationship, and when Sister 2 Sister asked the actress why she and D Wade accepted the offer to cover the magazine, Gabrielle said they wanted to model proud dark-skinned love.

“We didn’t realize that what people were thinking was that we were being kept off of covers and that we were being shunned because we were a darker-skinned African American couple, and when we realized that—and people were like, ‘We want more images of darker-skinned African Americans,’ and also to know that a man of his stature would choose an older woman and a browner woman—we want to see those images, and we were like, ‘Are we being a little selfish?’”

Gabby definitely has a point, I’d only thought about the couple being kept off of covers because of the “homewrecker” allegations, but in this day and age, it’s definitely important to see that ballers aren’t only choosing young, light-skinned or white women. Gabrielle Union is a proud brown-skinned woman who will turn 40 this year and I think most people are happy about what they represent (ex-wife shenanigans aside).

Check out more of the interview here. Do you think Gabby and D Wade’s relationship is a necessary example of not just black love, but dark-skinned love?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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