ESSENCE Founder to Keynote Community Banquet

On Thursday, October 13, 2011 the Robert Russa Moton Museum will host a Community Banquet in Farmville, Virginia featuring ESSENCE magazine founder Edward Lewis as keynote speaker. The special event will celebrate “Our Community, Our Museum, Our Future” and be held at Longwood University from 6pm to 8pm. Tickets are available through October 7th by contacting Grace Moton (434) 574-6554 or Chuckie Reid (434) 392-5974.

Mr. Edward Lewis is one of the publishing world’s most respected executives, having served formerly as the chair and founder of Essence Communications, Inc. He is currently the senior advisor for Solera Capital, a New York-based private equity investment firm, and the chair and co-founder of Latina Media Ventures, LLC, a premier integrated media company serving the growing Hispanic marketplace in the United States. Mr. Lewis created ESSENCE magazine as an inspiration of the undervalued work and invisible achievements of women like his mother and aunts whom he calls his “sheroes.” He realized that there was no other media outlet for highlighting the achievements of this demographic, and with $13,000 in startup capital and a dream, he created ESSENCE magazine.

The publication radically changed the perception corporate America held of black women, and awakened them to the purchasing needs and potential of this dynamic group. This has since inspired the Essence Music Festival that attracts over 400,000 attendees during the 4th of July holiday annually, as well as the Essence Awards. He has since gone on to create Latina Magazine to the acclaim of business and community leaders throughout the nation.

The Robert Russa Moton Museum is committed to the preservation and positive interpretation of the history of civil rights in education, specifically as it relates to Prince Edward County, Virginia and the role its citizens played in America’s struggle to move from a segregated to an integrated society.

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