Magazines
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Devin Mays of Rebuild Foundation on the lasting legacy of black media giant Johnson Publishing
Reclaimed Soul host Ayana Contreras in conversation with Devin Mays of Rebuild Foundation about the legacy of Ebony Magazine, Jet Magazine, & Fashion Fair Cosmetics, as well as A Johnson Publishing Story (an exhibit at Stony Island Arts Bank). For more the legacy of Ebony Magazine (and its parent company, Johnson Publishing Company), click here.…
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La Cade: The little hair care company that made some big waves.
La Cade Products was another of many Chicago-based black hair care firms (that I detail here) during the late 60s through the 1970s. Though not as well-known as Supreme Products (who created Duke and Raveen) or Johnson Products (who created Soft Sheen, Afro Sheen, and Ultra Sheen), La Cade left behind scant but fascinating evidence…
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Dorothy Donegan: Chicago’s own Jazz Cover Girl
Darkjive focuses mainly on soul music born and bred here in Chicago during the golden era of Chicago Soul: the 1960s through the late 1970s. Anyone who knows me, however, knows I am passionate about a variety of music that has come out of our city: especially soul, blues, and jazz. That said, recently an…
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Ebony is Back…. and fly!
Oh. Goodness. To be clear, Ebony never left us, but it did sort of lose influence in the Black Community. But, wow, have they stepped up. And, I’m prouder than ever to pass by their headquarters here in Chicago (on South Michigan Avenue). To give a little background, Ebony (launched in the 1940s by the…
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Theaster Gates’ Dorchester Projects
What do you get when you mix a maverick artist with strong community ties and an Urban Planner? For one thing, Theaster Gates. For another, the Dorchester Projects, pictured above. Theaster has been purchasing properties in the Woodlawn/Grand Crossing neighborhood for a few years now, and has quietly acquired the stock of the former Dr. Wax record…
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Ebony in the digital age
Chicago’s own Ebony Magazine has digitized its archives. Celebrate. Ebony was the premier photojournalism and news magazine of the Black Diaspora for decades. During its peak, Ebony featured groundbreaking work by photographers such as Gordon Parks (work seen below), as well as thought provoking articles that exposed sometimes obscure corners of the “black experience” (Mixed race children of WWII G.I.s…
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Eunice Johnson: Wrought a Roadshow of Dreams
Eunice Johnson (1916-2010), widow of Ebony/Jet Publisher John H. Johnson, was more than Black Media’s First Lady. As Creator and Director of the Ebony Fashion Fair (an all black roadshow of haute couture), she paved the way for generations of black models from Beverly Johnson and Naomi Sims to Naomi Campbell. In fact, Richard Roundtree (“Shaft”) was a…
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AREA/Chicago Release Party… inside and outside Chicago
(above, Pigasus [the pig candidate for President from the Yippie party] at a rally, Chicago 1968. classic Windy City protest) AREA/Chicago announces a publication release / art happening…. (AREA Chicago Art/Research/Education/Activism is a publication and event series dedicated to researching, supporting and networking local social, political and cultural movements.) AREA #9 Release Party marks the release of…
Art, Arts & Culture, Chicago Cultural History, Events, High Culture, Jive Culture, Magazines, Performance, Printed Matters, Visual ArtsAlex Yablon, anarchists in the suburbs, Andrew Greenlee, Anthony Rayson, art, Ashley Weger, Bert Stabler, Beth Gutelius, Brian Schultz, Carol Ng-He, Carrie Breitbach, Charlie Vinz, Chicago Arts, Chicago Otra, Claire Pentecost, Compass Group, Crandon mine campaign, CTA, Dale Asis, Dan Wang, Daniel Tucker, deindustrialization, demolition, Dinah Ramirez, disability activism, distribution, donation diasporas, Donna Kiser, ecology, Erin Moore, feminism, Forgotten Chicago, Gary, Gloria Ortiz, Great Lakes waterways, HIV in minority communities, Hobofest, Human Action Campaign Organization, immigration detention, Ishpeming, James Lane, Jayne Hileman, Joann Podkul, Joey Pizzolato, Larry Shure, Laurie Jo Reynolds, Laurie Palmer, Lorenza Perelli, Mairead Case, Mara Naselli, Mary Patten, MAS, Michelle Lugalia, Mike Wolf, Native American sites, Nazis in Skokie, neoliberal poetry, Nick Brown, Nicolas Lampert, Nicole Marroquin, No Se Vende, Notes for a People’s Atlas of Calumet, Paul Durica, Paul Sargent, Quincy Saul, Rebecca Zorach, regional energy, rural pilgrimage, Ryan Hollon, Sarah Kanouse, Sarah Kavage, Sean Noonan, slumming, Southeast Environmental Task Force, Southworks, sprawl, STAND, Steel Shavings, Stephanie Farmer, Steve Macek, suburban segregation, Sue Simensky Bietila, Tamms, teaching art on the south side, teaching urban studies in the suburbs, The Brownlands, the Burnham plan, used bookstores, Wade Tillett, world systems -
Printers’ Ball Tonite!
Chicago is a hotbed for so many fields of creative art: among them printed arts. From edgy magazines (Alarm, Stop Smiling, et al), to indie book publishers, comics, literary journals, and newspapers, there’s myriad ways to get high on ink! Celebrate our collective literary history at the Printers’ Ball, organized by Poetry Magazine (an iconic…
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Arise Up!
Picture world renowned photographers flown into Nigeria, photo shoots featuring African supermodels all over the world. I’m not talking about the now fabled All-Black Italian Vogue. “Arise” is that magazine: published in London by THISDAY, it’s a survey of Contemporary African Fashion & Pop Culture. A window into a world we don’t see in full color,…
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