EBONY Magazine: Still Going After 77 Years

EBONY Magazine is back on the cultural radar with a digital presence and new management. As it marks 77 years, the venerable publication can look back to its beginnings in November 1945 when founder John H. Johnson published the first issue for his company, Johnson Publishing. It was a decision that played a significant role in the national image of Black Americans.

In 2005 Johnson died after leading the company from a small building in Chicago to a modern headquarters in the Windy City. Along the way, he changed the narrative of Black America by featuring success stories and achievements largely overlooked by mainstream media. And in the process, Johnson  developed a lucrative brand for his company.

In the book “Succeeding Against The Odds: The Autobiography Of A Great American Businessman,” he said, “My problem was advertising or, to come right out with it, the lack of advertising. How did I intend to deal with the problem? By persuading corporations and advertising executives to give EBONY the same consideration they gave Life and Look. To do that I had to convince corporations and advertising executives that there was an untapped, underdeveloped Black consumer market larger and more affluent than some of the major White foreign markets. This was a revolutionary approach – revolutionary from a racial, marketing, and advertising standpoint – and I couldn’t see it to lower-level functionaries. I had to go to the top and sell the Black consumer market the same way you sell a foreign market.”

In 2019, 14 years after Johnson’s death, Johnson Publishing filed for bankruptcy. The photo archives were a treasure trove of Black life and purchased in a public auction for $30 million in an unusual collaboration by a coalition of four foundations.

Bridgeman Sports and Media bought EBONY out of bankruptcy in late 2020 for $14 million. Ulysses “Junior” Bridgeman now leads the company that began almost 80 years ago by a little boy born in Arkansas who dreamt of showing the world a more complete picture of the community he loved.