Features

In Rotation: Susan Harris

Susan Harris
Editor-In-Chief/Publisher
Mahogany Magazine
NYC


My background: After a four year stint in Uncle Sam’s Air Force, I bounced between MD, DC and NYC before settling in NY in ’96. I Worked as an EA to Publishers and Associate Publishers at Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Mode Magazine, Beauty Fashion. I started Mahogany Magazine while holding down my current day job as Associate Publisher of City Limits Magazine.

Musicians that move me: Depends on my mood-Sade (always), Nelly Furtado, Linkin Park, Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses (Appetite for Destruction), Floetry (I am still rocking Floetic), Kanye West, Outkast, Eric Clapton (the Unplugged Live album), Whitney Houston (the Preacher’s Wife soundtrack-no matter her issues, Whitney’s voice is a miracle), any Motown oldie. I am starting to get a lot of indie music from labels so I am constantly listening to new stuff.

Magazines I dig: All of them-as a publisher, I appreciate the romance of the printed word from indies, mainstream, men’s, women’s, whatever: BUST, Fierce Magazine, Altar Magazine, Utne Reader, One World, Lucky Magazine, Vogue (it’s my shameful secret pleasure), King, XXL, “O” magazine-just to name a few. On any given day you can find me cruising the newsstands.

Most humbling moments: Giving birth to my son. Corny, yes, but unbelievably true. I still can’t believe it's sixteen and half years later.

Scariest moments: Walking in to work one morning and getting fired over some perceived bullsh*t. The manager had a smirk on her face the whole time. I really thought I was going to flip out, lose it and possibly end up in jail.

Happiest moment: I can’t think of any one happy moment-there are a collection of moments that fit the bill: sharing laughter with friends I haven’t seen in a long time; throwing down in the kitchen for a familygathering; baking bread for the first time and the smell of activated yeast invoking powerful memories of my grandmother; dancing with wild abandon at some club to the thumping bass of house music surrounded by beautiful gay men with no shirts on (and being sober enough to remember); seeing my son at his film screening, posed and confident, being interviewed by a BBC and ABC reporter and holding it down.

Books that have changed me: Anything by Maya Angelou, starting off with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Colin Channer's Waiting in Vain, James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy, Pearl Cledge's Mad at Miles, and Clarissa Pinkola's Women Who Run with the Wolves.

Must-see TV: "The Sopranos," "Trading Spaces”, any news program, and anime cartoons like “Cowboy Be-Bop.”

My kind of folk: People who know that you get only one chance at living your life and they live it fully with good humor and a sense of daring without lapsing into vulgarity. People with what older folks call “good sense”.

I'm a sucker for: Brothers-good or bad-I adore them all .

Guilty pleasures: Every Sunday morning around 9am, I go to the local bodega and get bacon and egg on a roll, the Daily News, the Post and the Times. By the time I get back home, my pot of coffee is done-I then bring it all into my bedroom and stay there-all day (well at least until 4 or 5pm)-between reading, eating, watching cable, I take naps. I love Sundays!

Movies I'll never get tired of: The Godfather I, II and III - I have lost count how many times I’ve seen them all!

Websites of choice: TheCrusade.net (of course), Mediabistro.com, CNN.com, google.com.

Food I can't live without: Coffee, coffee and more coffee. Did I mention Coffee?

Stress Free Spots: My bedroom. Super soft sheets and lots of pillows. Everything within arm’s reach: The remote, books, magazines and what ever I can’t reach, I yell for the boy to come and do my evil bidding.

What keeps me sane: The realization that whatever I may be going through there’s probably someone out there who is twice as screwed as I am. It really stops you from having tunnel vision.

The wackest sh*t out there: The missing weapons of mass destruction. This reminds me of the story of the “Emperor’s New Clothes” - who will be the childlike voice in the crowd and state the obvious?

Things I obsess about: Motherhood - as a parent I constantly question: am I doing the right thing?

Future Plans: Man, there’s so many but over the next two to three years I hope to continue with Mahogany magazine-bringing the best stories to woman of color; make sure my son graduates and gets the hell outta my house (LOL!!); finish writing the science fiction novel currently languishing on my computer within some sort of time frame instead of “someday” and my continued boycott of the “Bitter Black Woman Club”-look, I am not going to join-stop asking (LOL!)

For more info, visit Mahogany Magazine

Message Susan Harris and tell her what you think

Ray Tamarra

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