Serena, Essence collaborate for cover story stunner

With tennis players' cover-girl magic dropping on newsstands from New York (Venus Williams' NYT Mag showing) to the Czech Republic (Barbora Strycova gracing Elle), Serena Williams was sure to be in such a mix.

She actually led it off recently, stunning audiences with an African-tribal motif in Essence magazine alongside the cover line, "The Art of Making an Impact" for that magazine's new issue.

In the accompanying cover feature, Serena speaks to standing up for others who have less privilege and voice than what she has come to find in her life's success.

She also addresses "knowing that you only fail if you fail to try." That can be the case from investing to bashing fuzzy yellow tennis balls.

To barely remain subjective about it, this shoot might have bottled lightning, so to speak. It certainly bottled a lot of paint.

Such is the power of its striking images, tributes to the work of Laolu "NYC" Senbanjo, a Nigerian artist, and Moana Luu, Essence's chief content and creative officer.

You can find the September issue of Essence on newsstands now.