(image courtesy of http://julialapin.typepad.com/bunnybisous/your_bunny_friend/)
EDITOR'S THOUGHTS
Aw-w-w-w-w, April is here. It’s the beginning of spring, “real” sunshine, and warm, sultry weather. Spring represents growth, spanking new life, and fresh beginnings. Everyone deserves a second chance and a brand new start, not to mention the fabulous fashion this season! "Daisy dukes," tank tops, and flip-flops are all re-emerging from the depths of your forgotten closet spaces. Huge sunglasses, bright eye shadows, and big duffel bags are making serious comebacks, too.
As Easter approaches, we all recognize the importance of sacrifice in order to reach certain goals. Every girl I know is “getting back into shape” in preparation for her perfect beach pose. I too, have ambitions of fitting back into my $200- Agua Bendita (Agua de Arcoiris -Rainbow) swimsuit (pictured below, for your pleasure).
I’m equally excited about "springing forward" into new territory and expanding my portfolio of writing to several printed and online magazines. The chemistry degree has been a huge help in expanding my technical knowledge of cosmetics and beauty products, but I’m beyond ready to start the next chapter in my learning career. Lord knows it has been my dream, since high school, to attend a prestigious design program! I am proud to say that it will finally happen this summer. Yea!!!! Hip – hip- hooray!
Snoop's on Martha Stewart!
Ebony Needs Change, .....but I wonder if they can afford any New Freelancers....
(photo courtesy of Ebony mag)
Tami tells it best:
(article courtesy of http://whattamisaid.blogspot.com/2009/03/should-black-folks-save-ebony-and-jet.html )
The Case:
We have recently been informed that the Johnson Publishing Company is currently going through a financial crisis. The company is attempting a reorganization in order to survive. Many people have already lost their jobs with a company that has employed thousands of black Americans during the course of its existence.In order to support this effort to save our magazine, my friends and myself have pledged to get a subscription to both Ebony and Jet magazine, starting with one year. We are urging every other club member who comes across this plea to do the same. Please post, repost, and post again, to any blog that you may own or support.
Please email this to every person that you know, regardless of their background. Let them know that Ebony and Jet magazines have been part of the black American culture for three quarters of a century, and that there is a lot that they can learn about black American culture from reading them.We are currently discussing the idea of throwing an Ebony/Jet Party, where people can eat, drink, and sign up for their subscription on the spot. Please spread this idea around to all that you know. Your Sororities, Fraternities, Lodges, VFW Posts, Churches, Civic Groups, Block Clubs, Caps Meetings, Book Clubs, etc.It would be a crying shame, to lose our historic magazine, during the same year of such an historic event as the election of our first black President of the United States.
Tammi's Response :
Today, Ebony enjoys a circulation of more than 1.4 million, while Jet reaches nearly 1 million people each week. But I suspect neither magazine is as ubiquitous in the homes of my generation of black folks (GenX) as they were for my parents and grandparents. The truth is, like many Civil Rights-era institutions, both publications began feeling irrelevant a long time ago. Yes, black people still need someplace to see their lives and culture reflected and to read news important to them. (Today's media is much better in covering people of color, but far from perfect.) But are Ebony and Jet the go-to places for that anymore? No, because while black America has changed over the last 60-some years, these publications have seemed largely the same--like museum pieces. I think of them fondly (like my grandparents' old recliner in the back room), but emphatically not as publications-of-record.
An example of Johnson Publishing's out-of-touchness? Sunday at the neighborhood Wal-Mart, I picked up a Jet for the first time in forever, in preparation for this post. I wanted to know if it was still there. In an age when black women are fighting stereotyped images of ourselves as Jezebels, playthings and acoutrement for the latest hip hop star whose cuts are banging in the whips of white, teenage suburbanites--it couldn't still be there. But, yeah, centerspread, there it was--that paean to black woman thickitude--the Jet Beauty of the Week, a young, black woman in a teeny swimsuit giving sexy face. Is this what I'm supposed to rush to the battlements to save?
The forefront of the black communications revolution is now on the Web, where brothers and sisters are breaking news (Jena 6), championing causes and serving up provocative opinions. Ebony and Jet, I think, have failed to keep pace with a world where there is
Ta-Nehisi Coates and What About Our Daughters and Racialicious and Aunt Jemima's Revenge and Womanist Musings and TransGriot and Something Within and Color of Change and Pam's House Blend and The Root and Black and Married with Kids, and, hell, Bossip. Today, black readers can get superior writing about politics, black life, marriage, parenting, sexuality, pop culture, identity, racism, sexism, spirituality, finance and a host of other issues, for free, everyday, all day, online. The topics covered (or not covered) by Ebony and Jet, the lack of depth in writing, the formats, the frickin beauty of the week, make these publications seem frozen in time, while the world speeds up around them.
Beyond all that, how is Johnson Publishing going to adjust to the new digital age? It's not the only print purveyor facing this question. Local newspapers across the country need to answer it too. America has changed the way it consumes information, and so far, print media hasn't found a profitable way to adapt. That's a shame, because we desperately need the Fourth Estate. We need in-depth reporting. Marginalized folks need these things more than most. God knows that black folks could use the shot to our collective self-esteem that Johnson Publishing's products offer. But taking extraordinary life-saving measures to rescue publications like Ebony and Jet is merely stalling the inevitable unless ailing publications put strategic plans in place to innovate and evolve.
Look, the older I get the more pieces of my past mean to me. (That's probably why I spent the weekend watching old episodes of "Columbo," "Quincy" and "MacMillan and Wife" on Netflix.) But nostalgia isn't enough reason for me to join the charge to save Ebony and Jet. All the Ebony/Jet parties in the world won't make a difference if these black cultural icons aren't making the changes necessary to save themselves.
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