Barack and Michelle Obama on Essence Magazine

President-elect Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama grace the January 2009 double cover issue of Essence Magazine.

The double cover comes accompanied by a special 56-page spread with images of the future first family and the next occupants of the White House along with “thoughts, and commentary from Essence writers and photographers about what Barack Obama’s victory means to America” says The Maven Report.

Image Credits: Dance with Shadows|Dot Spotters

The significance of a magazine cover like this cannot be understated. Essence is a magazine aimed at African-American women that has been in existence for over 41 years. Can you imagine how a woman who was a subscriber from the beginning would feel seeing this in her mailbox 41 years after her first issue of the magazine? I can't. But I can enjoy it with a similar fervor.