How We Live Today

Urban lifestyle magazines like XXL, the Source and Vibe have become mainstays at the newsstand with readers who are primarily black, Latino and male. But Honey is the first to reach out specifically to young, black women with urban lifestyles--a previously untapped market.

“Black women read the same magazines as white women, but we don’t get to see our images in those mainstream magazines,” said Joicelyn Dingle, the magazine’s editorial director.

Honey’s debut issue, which recently went on sale, celebrates 55 powerful women, ranging from author Edwidge Danticat (“Breath, Eyes, Memory”) to Olympic gold-medal winner Dominique Dawes to model Tyra Banks and singer Erykah Badu. But not all of the women are African Americans.

“We call ourselves urban, which means this is a magazine which will have predominantly black and Latino women readers, but we also appeal to all women with urban sensibilities, which is why you see Fiona Apple and Natalie Imbruglia on our power list,” explained Dingle.

Feature stories in the spring issue include a profile of Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther living in exile in Cuba for more than 15 years. The magazine also has TV, film, art and music news--and not just hip-hop. There are beauty and fashion pages, where shirts from urban designers like Mecca and Enyce mingle with shoes from Donna Karan and Chanel.

The concept of Honey has been in the air since Dingle met Kierna Mayo (now the magazine’s editor in chief) at Hampton University in Virginia. After graduation, both women moved to New York, where Mayo became one of the first female editors at the Source, and Dingle was marketing manager for Spike Lee’s 40 Acres and a Mule merchandising, and Def Jam founder Russell Simmons’ Phat Farm.