Angela Burt-Murray

1970–

Journalist

Angela Burt-Murray became editor-in-chief of Essence magazine in 2005, and was enthusiastic about guiding one of the most successful black-oriented monthlies in American publishing history into continued relevance for its one million readers. "The core mission of the magazine will always be to put African-American women first," she told Crain's New York Business writer Matthew Flamm. "This is a magazine in which black women have a voice. And for our community that's so important, because our voices tend to be marginalized and negated in mainstream society."

Burt-Murray grew up in Pomona, California, and graduated from Hampton University in Virginia in 1992 with a degree in finance. Her intent was to work on Wall Street when she moved to New York City after her college graduation, but her first work experiences helped her realize she was ill-suited for a career in banking or investment services. She began taking classes in journalism at New York University, and her first bylines appeared above articles for Manhattan Spirit, a New York City newspaper. After writing for Black Elegance for a time, Burt-Murray moved on to Blaze, a rap and hip-hop music-focused spin-off of Vibe magazine which debuted in August of 1998.

By 1999 Burt-Murray was writing full-time for Essence magazine as its fashion and beauty features editor. In 2001, she moved to Teen People as beauty director, but left to serve as executive editor at Honey, a fashion magazine aimed at a younger African-American readership. She rejoined Teen People in April of 2003 as its features director, and became assistant managing editor and then executive editor in October of that year.

In August of 2005, she returned to Essence as its new editor-in-chief, not long after the title became part of the Time Warner media empire, which also owned Teen People. Her new boss was one of her predecessors in the job, Susan L. Taylor, who had been editor-in-chief at Essence from 1981 to 2000 before becoming editorial director. Taylor had enthusiastic praise for Burt-Murray when she took over, telling Flamm, the Crain's New York Business journalist, that "she understands the entrepreneurial spirit rising up in our community and has phenomenal ideas."

Launched in 1970, Essence was one of the most successful monthly publications ever to target an African-American audience, and had accrued a devoted, multi-generational readership. Its focus was on fashion, lifestyle, and entertainment stories, but it also had a serious investigative reporting legacy that Burt-Murray vowed to uphold. Interviewed by PR Week shortly after taking over, Burt-Murray pledged to devote magazine space to coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath as well as continue the "extremely rich tradition of reporting on the important topics of the day for our community. I hope we will continue to do that. We can't always trust the mainstream media to tell our stories accurately or to have the space to cover issues that we're most concerned with."

Burt-Murray is also a published author. She and two former Honey staffers, Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller, penned a humorous advice tome, The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life, which was published by Plume in early 2005. Their aim was to provide practical suggestions on dealing with racism, sexism, and relationships for the modern African-American woman. Incidents at home or the workplace that set them off were described as "blackouts," and their chapters offered witty advice for dealing with ire-rousing comments or slights, such as being trailed around a clothing store by a salesperson suspicious of shoplifters. On the press tour for the book, Burt-Murray told New York Times writer Tammy La Gorce that "people would come up and say, 'Y'all don't look that angry.' And it's true—it's not like we're off stomping around the world."

Burt-Murray and her co-authors also wrote a novel, The Vow, which appeared later in 2005. Its plot centered around a trio of successful black women in Los Angeles who make a pact with one another to marry the man of their dreams within the year. Melissa Ewey Johnson, writing in Black Issues Book Review, found it heavy with references to designer fashion and other lifestyle signifiers, but "the authors present well-rounded characters, who, despite their shallowness … are likeable women readers will root for." Crafting a novel from three different voices was not an easy task, Burt-Murray admitted in an interview for the Web site of her New Jersey hometown, South Orange. "All three of us were working at different magazines and had very hectic schedules," she told Shari Noland for South Orange News. "So we worked off a very detailed outline. We pretty much knew what was supposed to happen in each chapter and since we were each responsible for a different a character, we could kind of write our own chapters and pass it along to each other for editing."

Burt-Murray lives in South Orange with her husband, Leonard Murray, whom she married in the mid-1990s, and their two sons. She admitted in an interview that appeared on the Mahogany Baby Web site that her "job can be very demanding. I work about 60 hours a week. I try not to work on the weekends and have that be totally family time," she told writer Tara Pringle. "We try to make sure that the time that we have together we make it count. We go to church together on Sunday. On Saturdays, it's mostly spent at their activities because they're involved—they have sports and birthday parties. On the weekends, it's full-on 'mommy mode.'"

In her monthly "Letter from the Editor" feature, Burt-Murray often touches upon her own personal experiences with issues of faith, health, or finance. In August of 2006, she revealed that she was often asked what the best part of her job was as editor-in-chief of Essence. The access to celebrities or Hollywood events was not what made her love the job, she wrote. "My primary responsibility is to think about Black women," she explained about her passion for her work. "The only thing I do all day is think about what Black women want, what Black women need, and how to help my sisters move their lives forward."

Selected writings

(With Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller) The Angry Black Woman's Guide to Life, Plume, 2004.
(With Millner and Miller) The Vow (novel), Amistad/HarperCollins, 2005.

At a Glance …

Born in 1970; married Leonard Murray (a partner in an asset-management firm); children: Solomon and Ellison. Education: Hampton University, BS, finance, 1992.

Career: Manhattan Spirit, Working Mother, Parenting, and Black Elegance magazines, contributor; Essence magazine, fashion and beauty features editor, 1998–2001; Teen People, beauty director, 2001; Honey magazine, executive editor, 2001–03; Teen People, features director, April 2003, executive editor, October 2003; Essence, editor-in-chief, 2005–.

Memberships: American Society of Magazine Editors; National Association of Black Journalists; Safe Horizons, board member; Overseas Press Club of America, board of governors.

Addresses: Home—South Orange, NJ. Office—Essence, 1500 Broadway 6th Fl., New York, NY 10036.

Sources

Periodicals

Black Issues Book Review, November-December 2005, p. 72.

Crain's New York Business, August 29, 2005, p. 21.

Daily Press (Newport News, VA), May 10, 2006.

Essence, June 2006, p. 14.

Mediaweek, September 19, 2005, p. 32.

New York Times, January 2, 2005.

PR Week, September 12, 2005, p. 14.

On-line

"Essence Editor Credits HBCU Education," Black College Wire, www.blackcollegewire.org/culture/050926_burt-murray (January 11, 2007).

"The Essence of South Orange," South Orange News, www.southorange.org/articles.asp?articleID=111, (January 11, 2007).

"Working Mothers, Real Talk: A Conversation with Angela Burt-Murray," MahoganyBaby, www.ma-hoganybaby.com/November2006/spotlight1106.html (January 26, 2007).