Actress, comedian, author, and Renaissance woman Niecy Nash stopped by the office to give us the scoop on The Soul Man. But of course, we had to get her on the record reliving her favorite Essence Festival moments. She’s had so many she couldn’t just give one.
“I have two favorite experiences from the Essence Festival.
“I think it was the first time I had been invited to be apart of it. One of my favorite moments was selling my book. Because when I went down to promote as a new author, you never know how it’s going to go. Baby, I turned that corner and that line was wrapped all around and I said “YES!”
“I love actually being able to meet my fans up-close. Social media is one thing, but being to able to touch someone and hug someone, and kiss their baby and all of those good things. I really appreciated that part of it.
“My favorite memory as a guest was at one of the concerts. I was up in the box, it was me and my new husband, Kellee Stewart who is my TV sister on The Soul Man, and Brandy was there. And New Edition was performing. Oh my! I still have video in my phone right now. We were singing to the top of our throats. It was the most fun ever. Every song that came on was just magical. It was a moment. It really was a moment.
“Oh wait! I have one more moment because I was on a panel with Lisa Nichols. Oh my god! Why is she everything? It’s one thing to be able to go somewhere and have fun where you feel like you are on vacation. But it’s another thing when you can tuck in nuggets that will feed you later on when you get back home. That was the part that I thought was such a gift. There is a sisterhood. No matter what you do for a living just based on the color that you are, there is a tie that binds. You walk away saying, I am not in this by myself. There are people who look like me that share the same experiences. It takes a celebrity down to an every man level and brings an every man up to a celebrity level. Being able to fellowship with women from all walks of life and see the commonality was my takeaway.”
Make sure you tune-in to the LIVE Season 3 Premiere of The Soul Man March 26th 10:30/9:
If you have stories you want to share about your favorite Essence Festival moments, send photos and stories to festivalinfo@essence.com