The legendary artist formerly known as prince was known for many things: his genius level talent, his fancy clothing and the love he had for black women.
Prince supported and mentored countless people, particularly women of color, and used his platform to help boost their careers. Erica Kennedy was one of those people.
Kennedy, a feminist author and journalist, known for her best selling novel "Bling," spoke on how she attempted to get her work published with InStyle Magazine in the year 2000 and how it was extremely difficult due to the fact that black writers weren't as visible in mainstream media.
Kennedy explained how prince helped her get in with InStyle Mag: "I had sent my clips to InStyle and one Friday afternoon they left me a frantic message. Turns out they wanted me to interview The Artist (as he was called then) and it could happen at any moment so they wanted to have me on standby. Of course, I’m psyched, but I’m also suspicious because they had never worked with me and I was so green. So I asked, “Why me?” They tell me he specifically asked for an African-American female writer and I thought, Out of the whole Time, Inc. network, I’m all you got? At that point in my career, anybody would have been more qualified than me! So in the book, the idea that Sydney is offered this cushy contract, even though she was previously just a temp, is derived from the fact that I got drafted into the big leagues under the Prince Rogers Nelson affirmative action plan."
The story is truly remarkable, sadly Prince and Erica Kennedy are no longer living with us today. Kennedy passed away in 2012.
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