Black Magazines That Have Weathered The Storm

Ebony and Jet Magazines

These two sister magazines published by Johnson Publishing have monopolized grocery aisle newsstands for generations. Ebony was founded as a monthly magazine by John H. Johnson in 1945, with a focus on highlighting Black achievement from “Harlem to Hollywood.” The first issue, which featured a program to improve race relations, sold out its run of 25,000 copies. By 1997, its circulation had peaked at 2 million.

Jet debuted in 1951 as the “weekly negro news magazine,” which focused on current events and the civil rights struggles. Jet was one of  the few media outlets to publish photos of Emmitt Till, the 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched for whistling at a white woman in the Jim Crow South.

The Johnson Publishing Company is still independently owned and can claim to be the world’s largest African-American owned and operated publishing company. In August 2010, the company made news when it appointed former White House social secretary Desiree Rogers to the position of Chief Executive Officer. Since she took office, Ebony magazine has undergone a major redesign with the new look having debuted this month.