FT. LAUDERDALE – Love is in the air at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, July 24 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Two world class authors—Susan Taylor (author of All About Love, Favorite Selections from In the Spirit on Living Fearlessly) and Cecil Hayes (author of 9 Steps to Beautiful Living and Art of Decorative Details)—will talk All About Love . . . Love of Home, Love of Self.
The evening program includes a reception and a book presentation. The authors will answer questions from the audience and sign their books (available for purchase). The event is free, but seating is limited.
Susan Taylor
Love of Self: Susan Taylor is synonymous with Essence Magazine. She was its fashion and beauty editor and served as editor-in-chief and editorial director.
For 27 years, she authored one of the magazine’s most popular columns, “In the Spirit.” She was the first and only African American Woman to be recognized by the Magazine Publishers of America with the industry’s highest honor, and the first to be inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame.
Susan grew up in Harlem working with her father in his women’s clothing store. She founded her own cosmetics company, a first for Black women, which led to the beauty editor’s position at Essence. She is the author of four books. And she is a fervent supporter of organizations dedicated to moving the Black community forward.
Cecil Hayes
Cecil Hayes is an internationally known expert in interior design. With her husband Arzell Powell, she created Cecil’s Designers Unlimited in 1975 and became the first African-American interior designer to be recognized worldwide. She has a signature line of luxury furniture items, and her work can be seen in the celebrity homes of Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, and many others.
Her award-winning décor has graced the pages of Architectural Digest, The New York Times, Florida Design, and Southern Living. Cecil is local to Florida—a graduate of Florida A & M, with a design degree from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.
She is an active philanthropist and has made scholarship dollars available for high school seniors pursuing art-related careers.
Cecil Hayes was the interior designer for the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, one of only three public libraries in the United States that specialize in African-American history and culture, and she continues to support community efforts to raise funds for AARLCC.
She has written two books on interior design.
The African-American Research Library and Cultural Center is located at 2650 Sistrunk Blvd., Fort Lauderdale.
