EBONY MAGAZINE AND LERONE BENNETT JR.
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From its launch in 1945, Ebony magazine was politically and socially influential. However, the magazine also played an important role in educating millions of African Americans about their past, becaming a key voice in the popular Black history revival that flourished after World War II.
This fresh and fascinating exploration of Ebony's political, social, and historical content illuminates the intellectual role of the iconic magazine and its contribution to African American scholarship. |
RECOGNITION
Named as one of the "Best Black History Books of 2020" by Black Perspectives
Research Society for American Periodicals Book Prize, Honorable Mention
One of the Chicago Sun-Time's "Books Not to Miss"
PRAISE
West expertly chronicles how Ebony magazine and its executive editor Lerone Bennett Jr. shaped cultural perception of African-American history. . . . This astute history shines a welcome light on a pioneering journalist.
- Publishers Weekly -
a richly detailed history of Ebony’s efforts to absorb the principles of Black Power into its pages...make[s] important contributions to the intersection of periodical and Black Studies
- American Literary History -
West emphasizes Ebony's presence as a cultural fixture in Black communities...[and] seizes the opportunity to offer an important new perspective on Black journalism and popular Black history...by placing the magazine within the context of each stage of the postwar Black freedom struggle, West thoughtfully connects Black Americans' historical perspectives with the social transformations occurring in post America.
- Journal of African American History -
a much needed contribution to Black intellectual historiography...West consolidates Ebony's role in popularizing Black history by situating [its] evolution within the larger struggle for Black-centered education
- The Black Scholar -
offers insight into a magazine that, while known for its contribution to Black culture, is not often viewed as a purveyor of Black history...a valuable contribution which will encourage more research into both Ebony and Bennett.
- Reception: Texts, Readers, Audiences, History -
West presents media scholars and educators with a new way of viewing Ebony and its founder, John Harold Johnson. Thanks to West, researchers are better able to visualize Ebony as more than 'a black counterpart to Life magazine' and Johnson as more than just an entrepreneur who targeted his magazine's content to the black bourgeois.
- American Journalism -
The first major examination of Ebony as a forum for black historical discourse and the magazine's long-time executive editor Lerone Bennett Jr.'s multifaceted thought, work, and scholarship as a leading popular historian of the black past and vital contributor to the postwar black history movement. A well-researched and accessible study situated within the growing field of black intellectual history, Ebony Magazine and Lerone Bennett Jr. is a major contribution to our understanding of what West aptly calls 'popular black history.'
- Pero G. Dagbovie, author of Reclaiming the Black Past -
A fantastic, deeply-contextualized new book about Ebony and Bennett.
- IMixWhatILike -
As West shows...the magazine helped to move African American history from the margins to the very center of American life by embracing the discipline of history and highlighting historical figures who had been left out of textbooks
- New York Times -
West is a talented writer who makes scholarly information easy to read and follow...this book should be the first reference source for anyone interested in the history not only of Ebony, but of African American publishers and publishing
- David Sumner, author of The Magazine Century -
- Publishers Weekly -
a richly detailed history of Ebony’s efforts to absorb the principles of Black Power into its pages...make[s] important contributions to the intersection of periodical and Black Studies
- American Literary History -
West emphasizes Ebony's presence as a cultural fixture in Black communities...[and] seizes the opportunity to offer an important new perspective on Black journalism and popular Black history...by placing the magazine within the context of each stage of the postwar Black freedom struggle, West thoughtfully connects Black Americans' historical perspectives with the social transformations occurring in post America.
- Journal of African American History -
a much needed contribution to Black intellectual historiography...West consolidates Ebony's role in popularizing Black history by situating [its] evolution within the larger struggle for Black-centered education
- The Black Scholar -
offers insight into a magazine that, while known for its contribution to Black culture, is not often viewed as a purveyor of Black history...a valuable contribution which will encourage more research into both Ebony and Bennett.
- Reception: Texts, Readers, Audiences, History -
West presents media scholars and educators with a new way of viewing Ebony and its founder, John Harold Johnson. Thanks to West, researchers are better able to visualize Ebony as more than 'a black counterpart to Life magazine' and Johnson as more than just an entrepreneur who targeted his magazine's content to the black bourgeois.
- American Journalism -
The first major examination of Ebony as a forum for black historical discourse and the magazine's long-time executive editor Lerone Bennett Jr.'s multifaceted thought, work, and scholarship as a leading popular historian of the black past and vital contributor to the postwar black history movement. A well-researched and accessible study situated within the growing field of black intellectual history, Ebony Magazine and Lerone Bennett Jr. is a major contribution to our understanding of what West aptly calls 'popular black history.'
- Pero G. Dagbovie, author of Reclaiming the Black Past -
A fantastic, deeply-contextualized new book about Ebony and Bennett.
- IMixWhatILike -
As West shows...the magazine helped to move African American history from the margins to the very center of American life by embracing the discipline of history and highlighting historical figures who had been left out of textbooks
- New York Times -
West is a talented writer who makes scholarly information easy to read and follow...this book should be the first reference source for anyone interested in the history not only of Ebony, but of African American publishers and publishing
- David Sumner, author of The Magazine Century -