Ebony Jr.!: The Rise and Demise of an African American Children's Magazine

Journal of Negro Education, The, Fall 2006 by Henderson, Laretta

Ebony Jr.! is not a younger version of Ebony, but a completely different magazine . . . . It is intended to motivate reading mastery and strengthen the preparedness of Black children for a highly literate future. Among the contents of the maiden issue of Ebony Jr.! . . . are biographies of famous people, stories, games, science stories and child-centered Black history. ("Johnson Introduces," 1973, p. 52)

EJ is important because it serves as a historical and cultural artifact of how "the African American community," or at least JPC, sought to teach children what it meant to be Black during the mid- to late 1970s.

Much like various media projects of the early 1970s, children's periodicals were a popular educational tool. Ebony Jr.! with its "biographies of famous people, stories, games, science stories and child-centered Black history" was no exception ("Johnson Introduces," p. 52). In producing EJ as an educational tool, Johnson was clear on its primary target audience: adults. Parents and teachers purchase children's texts, and Johnson knew that education had excellent marketing appeal for this audience. But he also knew that children had to enjoy the magazine or they would not request it; therefore, EJ presented education as fun. Johnson's dual strategy is clearly stated:

Ebony Jr.! is about learning and exploring. It is based on the idea that learning is fun. It is based on the idea that reading is the door to opportunity. It is based on the ideas that exploring new worlds-is half the fun of growing up committed and productive. For these reasons, Ebony Jr.! will be a magazine of action. It will be filled with things to do. (Johnson, 1973, p. 4)

The educational orientation of Ebony Jr.! was academic and ethnic. Again, because JPC is an African American-owned and operated company, its publications tended to reflect, to varying degrees, the community. One of the needs of the African American community of the 1970s and 1980s was, and still is, culturally relevant educational opportunities. Johnson (1973) alluded to this connection in his editorial in the first issue of EJ:

We of Ebony Jr.! believe that you deserve a magazine which reflects the sounds and sights and colors of your community. . . . [Furthermore] it will challenge you and remind you of the great tradition of which you are a part. Your forefathers created great monuments and dreamed great dramas in Africa. They came here with the first explorers and were among the founders and builders of this nation, (p. 4)

Johnson incorporated some of Du Bois's ideas from The Brownies ' Book in EJ. In doing so, like Du Bois (1919), Johnson stressed Black history, a "code of honor" in interracial relations, a love of home and friends as a response to racially connected "hurts," and an interest in future careers and duties (p. 286). These concerns still impacted the African American children, even though they resided in a different historical time than the 1920s The Brownies' Book. EJ began publication toward the end of the Civil Rights Movement, and it was geared to children who would have benefited from the Movement. To these children, Johnson applied the adage, "to those that much has been given, much is required." Johnson (1973) told the young reader,