ESSENCE Writer Talks Women in White House Spread

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When the November issue of ESSENCE hit newsstands last month, the article that circulated on everyone’s social media feeds was the “Women of the White House“.  This article featured 29 Black women who work for the Obama administration. It was so amazing to see a group of women who look like me assisting with the everyday workings of the President and First Lady. It was a powerful visual to see women of all ages taking on leadership in some of the most coveted positions people can hold in our government.  This impacted me in many ways and I wondered how my colleague was feeling seeing the positive feedback that came from her article.  Therefore, I sat down with Taylor Lewis, the journalist who  help tell the stories of these amazing women to get her thoughts on her viral spread:

 

How did feel when your article went viral?

I was honestly shocked. I had no idea that it was going to be this big.  One day I started to get Instagram notifications from friends that tagged me in different posts of the photo and I was shocked. Nothing like that has ever happen to me before. I know that people read ESSENCE and that they read what I’m writing, but to actually have confirmation that they are reading what I’m writing was surreal.

 

Why do you think it went viral and became such a moment for people?

I think it was a moment for people because we have a black man in the White House, but I think people forget what goes on behind the scenes. There are actually black women and other women of color helping to run this country right now. I don’t know if it had been done before, but to actually put faces to that concept was something in itself. Also, I think to have a visual of so many powerful Black women together in these high profile positions working hand in hand with the President everyday is something special.

 

What surprised you most by what some of the women had to say on their experience in the White House?

I loved how many of the women did not have a political background. Also, one of the women actually went to a community college. I think it’s important to get those little factoids out. Honestly, how many people in this country know that there are people working in the White House that don’t have Master’s degrees or a degree from a four-year university. There are people there that have a community college education.  It’s important for people to think that or know that and realize that [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”@taylorcespedes” suffix=”#lemons2lemonade”]just because you can’t afford a typical education path, your dreams and ideas shouldn’t limit you.[/inlinetweet]

 

I, also, loved their answers to the question, “what was their proudest moment in the White House”? Some of the women had such amazing stories but there was a similar sentiment on just seeing President Obama interact with everyday people and children specifically. There were a lot of children stories and seeing how the children react to him was interesting to hear.

 

What do you hope people gained from reading your article?

I got an email a couple of weeks ago from a Spelman student. She said she was so excited to see Black women profiled in such a positive inspiring light. She sent me this beautiful email with the subject line: “In Tears…Thank You!”:

 

 “I picked up ESSENCE’s November issue and fell in love with the “Women of the White House“ spread. I cried. I cried while in line at Wal-Mart because girls and young women like me who are interested in politics, government and advocacy are never highlighted which is why I love and appreciate your work…”

 

Seeing the social media response to my work was surreal to me but hearing from a young woman who this spoke directly to was amazing. I’ve never had that happen before. So what I hope that this article does is for it to reach her, women who are older than her, and women who are younger than her who are seeing these women who look like them in a national magazine inspire a future White House administration.

 

 

 

 

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