Syracuse in focus (SIF)

Kierna Mayo, editor

She has been at Ebony for less than a year, but Kierna Mayo is already on a Tina Brown-type trajectory to change the publication, and scramble what we think of as the journalistic status quo.

Mayo encouraged students to bring their “authentic self” to their work and to critically examine the  culture in which they cover.

“[How you think] is the thing that changes you from having a job to having a career.”

“Create a space for your kind of thinking,” she said. “…feeling empowered matters.”

Mayos has deep roots in magazines, including stints at Honey and Cosmo Girl and even the Source.

She also talked about the day she played hookie from work to cover and experience the street procession following the funeral of The Notorious B.I.G.

She is credited with giving Mary J. Blige the “Queen of Hip Hop Soul” label back in the day. She visited SU’s Newhouse School as part of the Leaders in Communications series.

Mayo is the second Hampton University graduate we’ve seen speak to the journalism students.