Via Instaboner, I’ve discovered that Ebony’s back issues are scanned and available online. Before you excoriate me for sending you to a magazine that is basically a brown-washed People, take a moment to think about the full import of this. Ebony from the 60s. Ebony from the 70s. All online.
Reasons why this is awesome:
1. The covers. Lightskinned bathing beauties and movie stars from the 60s, the shift to a darker skinned aesthetic during the 70s, and a black Jesus. Also, natural hair on men got its own cover story!
2. The ads. Raveen! Cutty Sark! Masengill Powder (it assures your daintiness, ladies)! Skin Lighteners!
3.The stories. Tallulah Bankhead: not a racist. “Why The Stars Go Broke”: answer, the same reasons they did 40 years ago. And a 1965 piece documenting the trials of an interracial married couple.
4. And a 1977 issue all about “The Black Woman,” which states: “She continues to represent ‘the multitude of paradoxes’ of her people.” That’s a far better summation than anything I’ve read or been told about the State of Black Women in America, lately.
Although we’ve debated the relevance of black pubs today, one thing’s not up for debate: Ebony’s back issues are a cultural goldmine. And it makes me wonder if we’ll have a different take on the Ebony of today in 30 years.
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