The Negro Digest and Ebony: a Mission to Mainstream Blackness

Mass media has always been used as a tool to control and influence. This includes radio, television, books, and magazines. Magazines in particular have been a tool to share with the American public what is new and cool in society. An example of this is Vogue Magazine, which was founded in 1892 (CBS News). Since then, Vogue has been a fashion magazine dedicated to teaching society how to dress, style their hair, and do their makeup. They have been the reporters of all things hip for over 120 years now. But one thing the magazine has not always been is inclusive.

In fact, a common characteristic of magazines in the nineteenth and early twentieth century was the celebration of whiteness and Eurocentric features. African Americans were excluded from this form of mass media until 1892. That was the year that John H. Johnson published the first issue of The Negro Digest, one of the first ever magazines dedicated to sharing stories about African Americans. He later went on to create Ebony Magazine which also specifically highlighted the lives of African Americans. With the creation of The Negro Digest and Ebony, John H. Johnson used mass media to highlight African American culture in times of racism and suppression, humanizing African Americans and changing the perception of what it means to be black for both white and black peoples. John H. Johnson was born in January of 1918 and raised in Arkansas City, Arkansas. It was from there that he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, as there was no public high school for African American students in Arkansas City. He thrived in Chicago, becoming Junior and Senior class president of his high school and also becoming the editor if his school’s newspaper.

There, he explored his interest in journalism and after graduating, went to work for the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company where he worked as an editor of articles related to African Americans. This job opportunity filled both his passion for journalism and being a voice for his fellow African Americans. After working there, he decided to go out on his own and start his own publishing company, which of course did not come without challenges. Firstly, Johnson struggled financially to start his business, as banks were more hesitant to lend money to African Americans. A small business loan that would have been easy for any white man to get, proved to be nearly unattainable for a black man. Johnson ended up having to use his mother’s furniture as collateral to borrow $500 to start the Johnson Publishing Company (Biography. com). In November of 1942, the Johnson Publishing Company printed the first issue of its first publication, The Negro Digest. Before this milestone could be reached though, Johnson had to get the help of the black community. In addition to using his mother’s furniture as collateral, to gain enough money for the publications, Johnson wrote letters asking for two-dollar subscription and sent them to everyone on a mailing list for a community African American insurance company. The result was 3000 responses, making his goal of publishing The Negro Digest much more attainable (Portland State University). But of course, Johnson faced more challenges before publishing. Most magazine distributers that he went to initially refused to even carry the magazine because they doubted that it would sell. As a response, Johnson turned to the Black community for help once again. He and his friends went from newsstand to newsstand requesting copies of The Negro Digest to be sold at the locations (Portland State University).

This method proved to be successful as it helped Johnson find a magazine distributer who would publish his magazine as well as help market it to other cities. This first issue ended up seeing great success, selling 3,000 copies and within one year, acquiring a monthly circulation of 50,000 (Encyclopedia Britanicca). The impact of The Negro Digest was one that no one could predict. It became a voice for African Americans in a time of racial tension and a medium to expose the troubles and concerns of black people to white people. One column that became very well-known in the magazine was entitled “If I Were a Negro”. This column highlighted unresolved problems that black people had and encouraged famous white citizens, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, to provide their perspectives (Portland State University). Just like how the magazine was born from support in the black community, it continued to reciprocate that support by always bring light to black issues, even after it ceased publication. In 1951, The Negro Digest had its final issue but in 1961, Johnson revived the publication under a new name The Black World and a new editor, celebrated black intellectual Hoyt Fuller. Fuller went on to state that the magazine would aim to "routinely publish articles which will probe and report the conditions of peoples and their struggles throughout the Black World," with a new objective of "guarding against the opportunists and charlatans who would exploit Black Art and Literature for their own gain and the spiritual and artistic colonization of Black people" (University of Chicago). It discussed controversial topics like Black Power, celebrated activism like that of Martin Luther King Jr. , and showcased black literature like Black Skin White Masks by Frantz Fanon. Although it highlighted activism and Black Power, the magazine did not have any one political affiliation, instead it encouraged debate among its black readers. This magazine highlighted the very many perspectives and viewpoints that black people could have, giving them more of an identity in racist, post WWII America. The Black World emphasized how diverse black people can be even after having shared so many life experiences.

The sense of individuality made possible by the different viewpoints shared throughout the magazine worked to aid black liberation, starting from within the minds of black people. Black intellects were able to get their articles into the magazine and influence the black masses. For example, in the August 1973 issue, June Jordan makes an argument to readers about the importance of “black” English with “White English: The Politics of Language” (University of Chicago). Articles like these were so important because they were instances of black people influencing other black people, for the common good of black people nationwide. Before Johnson’s publications of The Negro Digest and The Black World, black people were not being represented in magazines and were continuing to be influenced by white people. Johnson finally published the last issue of The Black World in 1976 but later continued to publish African American magazines that had great impacts. John H. Johnson went on and started Ebony magazine in November of 1945. Much like how The Negro Digest was seen as the black version of Reader’s Digest, Ebony was the black version of Life magazine. Its initial purpose was to highlight African American entertainers and sports figures (Encyclopedia Britanicca). Instead of solely celebrating the achievements of white people, which was what most magazines of the time did, Ebony made it a priority to put black people and black success in their pages. In the late 1950s, the magazine published a column written by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. entitled “Advice for Living By”. This column was a way for Dr. King to communicate with the Ebony readership by answering their questions and offering them life advice. An advertisement for the column wrote “Let the man that led the Montgomery boycott lead you to happier living” (Holmes).

In this column King answered questions and gave advice on not just racism and black issues and society, but also marriage and family problems. His responses were mostly modest and of Christian values, as he had a wholesome image to keep up in the media so that his words on civil rights would be held with high regard. In the 1960s, Ebony had more of a focus on the civil rights movement as it really took off. The magazine published pro-civil rights articles and even provided extensive coverage on the movement to keep readers informed and engaged with the fight for their rights. The magazine also began to explicitly encourage racial pride and discussed how readers could overcome various obstacles. Words that were continually emphasized in the magazine were “respect, dignity pride, recognition, understanding, hope, and inspiration” (Glasrud). This focus on black power and black pride that Johnson chose to have was both necessary and majorly influential in this time of battling for civil rights. From its genesis, Ebony magazine has affected society by humanizing black people in the media, changing the minds of both black and white peoples. By focusing on sharing the accomplishments of African American entertainers and sports figures, Ebony refuted stereotypes while being very successful. The very first issue sold 25,000 copies and by the end of the early 2000s, its circulation was 1. 7 million. No longer were images of black people in the media solely loud, uneducated, and lazy. This magazine took control of the narrative of black people in mass media and celebrated black success—something that white mass media outlets conveniently disregarded. With this, white America was forced to see black people are more than second-class citizens. They were forced to see black people making money and flourishing among them. The African American readership of Ebony was also affected but with inspiration.

Now, they saw people who looked like them prospering and being celebrated in mass media, just like white celebrities. With this image, black people were encouraged to work to overcome racial barriers to their success, enabling them to live lives to their full human potentials (Glasrud). Dr. King’s column, “Advice for Living”, also worked to humanize black people in mass media. With that column, Ebony mainstreamed the black experience. According to Clayborne Carson, Stanford University’s director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, “’Advice for Living’ functioned as a sort of Kinsey Report, exposing both the distinctiveness and commonality of a population — in this case, the black middle class” (Holmes). The column allowed for there to be conversation between black people of all different walks of life. No longer were black people all the same, “Advice for Living” popularized black people having different opinions and different life experiences, which in turn greatly worked to humanize them in society. This was not just a message to white people but to other black people too. Similar to white people, the black middle class viewed poorer black people as stereotypes. But once this column became popular, all parts of society were forced to see just how normal and human black people could be. In conclusion, John H. Johnson did America a great service by publishing The Negro Digest and Ebony. With these publications, he was able to redefine the way society viewed African Americans, and even the way they viewed themselves. The Negro Digest not only created a space for black art to be celebrated and showcased, but it also showed society that a black magazine could be successful. This display of success while pushing a solely black agenda was very hopeful for African Americans, as it gave them an example of greatness despite all the odds against them. With the publication of Ebony, Johnson specifically showcased black success. This was especially great for expanding the minds of black people because it showed them just how different black people could be despite having so many shared experiences. Ebony showed how black people are different from each other but at all socioeconomic levels of life, still human and complex. These magazines showed firsthand how mass media can have great influence over society. Johnson was able to take the power and influence that comes with mass media and use it to provide cultural understanding as well as a support system for his readership.