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

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

Well-rounded educationally and geographically, Ebony Jr.! remained a Northern and an urban publication. There were only a few cursory references to a rural environment in the graphics and narratives. For example, each December issue showed a snow scene, which was more a Northern ' reality than a Southern or Southwestern one. In addition, most of the characters live in the North, and their participation in the Great Migration is assumed. One such story is "Tough Enough," by Frankie (Clark) Cox (1973) in which the protagonist has just moved to the North from the South and is trying to learn to ride a bike. There are no stories that reversed the migration pattern with characters moving from the North to the South. Farm families and rural life are shown almost exclusively in historical narratives.

Constance Van Brunt Johnson: Setting a Foundation

Although the leadership at Ebony Jr.! did not stay the same from its beginning in 1973 until its demise in 1985, the structure of it did, largely because of the management of Constance Van Brunt Johnson. While John H. Johnson retained ultimate control over Ebony Jr.!, through his roles as publisher and editor, Van Brunt Johnson served as the initial managing editor until April, 1976. The content and philosophy of EJ were Van Brunt Johnson's creations, while John Johnson reportedly conceived and initiated EJ in response to letters "from readers asking where they could acquire black literature for elementary schoolers" (Ricchiardl, 1973, p. 13). A native of Los Angeles, Van Brunt Johnson graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and "earned her master's of teaching and reading specialist degrees from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education" (Ricchiardl, 1973, p. 13). She had subsequently worked as a teacher and a reading tutor and conducted literacy research on Black children in Guyana, South America (Ricchiardl, 1973). The first years of Ebony Jr.! reflected Van Brunt Johnson's commitment to education and her desire to package learning experiences in ways that would readily engage the child reader. More than any of the other managing editors, Van Brunt Johnson made it her mission to motivate reading mastery and prepare Black children for a well-educated life ("Johnson Introduces," 1973, p. 52). Her first two issues, May and June/July, 1973, are unlike the remainder of the issues of her tenure and reflect her vision without the benefit of much reader response. These two issues set the tone for EJ's publication cycle. However, both are more political than the remaining issues, using, for example, traditional African American and Afrocentric names for characters. Van Brunt Johnson instituted an article on Africa in each issue, and tried to teach a distinctly "African American child" by aligning content and pedagogy in coordination with the current educational discourses about educating African American children. But to make this educational material "fun," and something that children would want, she inserted popular culture items that children would think were "hip" and "cool."