“I shed a lot of stuff, a lot of unnecessary weight in the last three or four years. I left a lot of old luggage behind, and when I did, the blessings just started pouring on me, and the light in my spirit started to lift again,” Whitney tells the magazine. “I’m really humbled, and I thank God that people love me, but I [really] thank God that God loves me. I thank Him for chastening my heart, for never letting go. What I did sometimes … I went off and did my thing, but He never let me go.”

Whitney On Her Retreat From The Public Eye: “I was just ready to lay back and raise my daughter and just watch her grow and nurture her. And my mother’s getting older. I wanted to spend more time with my mom [because during] most of my 20s and 30s, [I] was dealing with making records and traveling the world and being this thing — icon, you know — whatever this has turned into.”

Whitney On Her Relationship With Daughter Bobbi Kristina, 16: “She and I are not only mother and daughter, but we’re good friends. I want her to trust me, to be able to trust in me, to know that I’m not going nowhere. If she knows that I’m there for her, she can depend on me. I’m the dependable one; she can depend on her mommy.”

Whitney Houston covers the October issue of Ebony, on newsstands September 8.

“I’m a little messy! Oh, yeah. I think that is the most difficult thing for him. He’s very, very organized.”

Tyra Banks Ebony December 2008

President-Elect Barack Obama has sat down with Ebony Magazine for his first print interview since becoming the first African-American elected President of the United States.

“I’m very humbled by the fact that I stand on the shoulders of all the people who made these incredible contributions to lift this country up,” Obama tells the magazine.

Catch the full interview with our nation’s next Commander-in-Chief in Ebony’s January 2009 issue, on newsstands Tuesday, December 9.

Potential future First Lady Michelle Obama is featured on the September 2008 issue of Ebony.

Prince and Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama are two of six men featured on Ebony Magazine’s “The 25 Coolest Brothers Of All Time” Issue-August 2008. Other cover shots will feature Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Marvin Gaye, Muhammad Ali, and Billy Dee Williams.

Sizzling Serena Williams looks stunning striking a purple-clad bikini pose on the Ebony Magazine July 2008.