Ebony:A Glamorous Urbanization of the Black Power Movement
Political overtones emerge as a primary signifier of readership construction in Ebony magazine.The increased exposure to symbols of black liberation and measures of equality,in accordance with a narrative and semiotic emphasis on the African-American family and the social progression of blacks in America implies that there is a visible awareness of several different audiences and an apparent assumption that readers are highly invested in politics and consumed with black culture and black life.The combination of three critical agendas:race politics,black political economy,and socio-cultural mobility work to create a subject,or a defined people,rather than an objectified and stereotypical Other.The objective of this conscious shift from object to subject is to move away from racism,oppression,sexism and primitivism so that“those relations are no longer abusive”(Hooks,1992,p.47).Ebony makes an attempt to elevate racial consciousness for the African-American reader who is not racially and socially aware by playing on spatial relationships between blacks and America,blacks and whites,urbanites and the elite,male and female,and the liberal and conservative.Cover blurbs and headlines incorporate terms such as“you,”“your,”and“our”to imply ownership and possession and authorize the African-American reader.Bell Hooks revisits the invisibility of ownership that surfaced with desegregation,“What I remember most about that time is a deep sense of loss.It hurt to leave behind memories,schools that were‘ours'places we loved and cherished,places that honored us”(Hooks,1990,p.34).Such vocabulary revises the implied meaning of the word American in the hierarchy of American society to identify a collective space in a place in which black culture is commonly made invisible or negatively idealized by the dominant society.“The Martin Luther King Nobody Knows”(January 2004,emphasis added),a literary strategy used by many publications,attracts the reader by again giving the illusion of possession,but in this sense the reader is granted access and offered an intimate look at a prominent African-American political figure.The intrigue with the particular piece,which is positioned in prime magazine cover space,the upper right corner,is the placement of this newly discovered information in an African-American specific publication.
Front-of-book departments“For Brothers Only”and“Sister speak”strive to give a place and individual physical space to black woman and men.The terms brother and sister are specific to black culture.Language,here,is a primary component of cultural and social identity.For instance,“No More Drama,”the title of a January 2004 cover story,is also the title of a contemporary rhythm and blues song.“Soul Yoga”is reminiscent of other cultural traditions-soul music and soul food.The intent here is to strengthen readers by reacquainting them with the past and black life,and also to privilege them or build upon what blacks have accomplished thus far.
Ebony addresses several components of African-American life,and most likely due to recent criticism in African-American scholarship,incorporates articles that consider intellectual discourses.The unfortunate reality,however,is that Ebony suffers from sub par writing standards and although they display potential,interviews rarely delve below the surface of issues,even those of a complex nature.The word choice paradigm,“All of these outstanding young people represent not only themselves but also thousands of other talented young African-Americans,”(Ebony,February.2004,p.91)for example,resonates with that of the traditional suburban newspaper.In the case of scholarly driven articles,and those formatted for the purposes of the celebration of academic and professional achievement,the rhetoric and overall expectation of education or reading level of the audience is also ostensibly low in comparison to Essence and O magazine.
