Becoming Her Magazine | September/October 2026

Featuring Cover Story: Maria Raquel

She Was Born Into the Music — But the Story She’s Writing Is Entirely Her Own

Her great-grandmother taught Tito Jackson how to play. Her grandmother performed with a soul group that left audiences breathless. Her mother played violin and drums. Her father found his rhythm in the church. And Maria Raquel? At 20 years old, she took everything her bloodline handed her and turned it into something the world has never quite heard before.

In our September/October 2026 issue of Becoming Her Magazine, we sit down with the extraordinary Maria Raquel — pop artist, singer, songwriter, composer, dancer, film actress, aerospace engineering student at Arizona State University, and the first National Youth Ambassador for StandUp for Kids. She released two singles on a single day that told the full story of who she is: vulnerable enough to be honest and bold enough to be fearless. She landed an original song on a feature film soundtrack and then walked in front of the camera herself to perform it. And she did all of it before her 21st birthday.

What You’ll Discover:

In one of the most intimate issues we have ever produced, go inside the childhood memory that became a haunting pop record, the bold anthem that sparked a global dance challenge, and the moment an original song became a film credit on a Towanda Braxton feature. Discover the extraordinary musical family legacy that stretches back generations — from Gary, Indiana, to the world stage — and how Maria Raquel is honoring every branch of it while writing a chapter that belongs entirely to her. Hear directly from Maria on what it means to carry a legacy and still refuse to be defined by it, to study aerospace engineering and record pop music in the same season of life, and to use a platform built from artistry to serve the young people the world too often overlooks.

Also Inside This Issue:

AmplifiHer Features —

Letricia Townsend is a wife, mother of seven, and the founder of Simply Living in Purpose — a community rooted in the belief that freedom is not a destination, it is an assignment. With over 24 years of entrepreneurship behind her and a mission handed to her by God, Letricia is leading women out of the lies they have believed and into the truth of who they were always created to be. Her story will remind you that being seen by God means you can finally start seeing yourself.

Kristina Coleman has spent over 14 years in the social services field and built youRmore Counseling Services LLC on a single conviction — that everyone deserves to be healthy, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. As Vice President of Child Advocacy and Mental Health Programs at Safe Horizon and a dedicated advocate for healing in the Black community, Kristina is making space for the conversations that have been silenced too long and proving that asking for help is not a weakness. It is the bravest thing you can do.

Format: Digital

This issue is for the young woman who was told to pick one thing and chose everything anyway. It is for the daughter who carries her family’s legacy and is bold enough to add her own verse to it. It is for every woman who has ever been told her dreams were too big, her ambitions too many, or her story not yet ready to be told. Maria Raquel will remind you, with every page, that the story you were born into is just the beginning — the one you write yourself is what the world will remember.

Order Now —Secure your copy of our September/October 2026 issue, stream Midnight at Maria’s and Round N Round on all platforms, and share this story with every young woman in your world who needs to see what becoming looks like when you refuse to be put in a box.