Kierna Mayo
Kierna Mayo is an American writer, editor, and media executive. She started her journalism career as a member of the original writing staff for "The Source". Mayo co-founded the lifestyle magazine "Honey" in 1999, and was later the editor-in-chief of "Ebony". Mayo is the vice president and executive editor of Random House and Roc Nation's imprint Roc Lit 101. Life and career. Early life. Mayo was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was a fan of hip-hop music during her adolescence, and attended high school at Murry Bergtraum High School with Q-Tip  and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. She received her bachelor's degree from Hampton University. Journalism and editing. Mayo was an original staff writer and editor at "The Source", where she worked for four years. Her writing frequently pushed back against sexism in the music industry and blanket criticism of hip hop. In March 1999, she co-founded and was named the inaugural editor-in-chief of "Honey", a bimonthly lifestyle and fashion periodical geared toward young multicultural women. She and her co-founder Joicelyn Dingle sold the magazine and ultimately shuttered it one year later due  to creative differences with the new owner. Mayo worked as "Ebony"'s editorial director beginning in 2011 and was promoted to editor-in-chief in 2015. A few months into her tenure she attracted both praise and condemnation for a cover depicting the fictional Huxtable family of "The Cosby Show" in a smashed picture frame. The accompanying article, written by Goldie Taylor, contextualized Cliff Huxtable's legacy in light of the scores of women that accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault and misconduct. In 2016, Mayo resigned from her position after "Ebony"'s owners sold the publication to ClearView Partners . Later that year she was named senior vice president of content and brands for Interactive One. As of 2021 she is the vice president and executive editor at the publishing imprint One World/Roc Lit 101. Other work. Mayo wrote the foreword to Joan Morgan's cultural history book "She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (2018). She also contributed the essay “Hip-Hop Heroines” to the "Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hip and Rap" (2021). Mayo appeared as a commentator for "On the Record" and "We Need to Talk About Cosby".