In many homes, Ebony is treasured the way family photos are and means just as much.
Thus, for the most part, I disagree with the blogosphere's conventional wisdom that new media and new urban-themed magazines are crippling the icon's sustainability, and radical changes are overdue and, or, won't even matter in the long run.
It's outrageous to think that somehow Ebony has lost its relevance to Black people, or that the recent editorial coverage hasn't been on point; or that an accolade or product mention in Ebony is not equivalent to the Black community's gold seal of approval.
Ebony is golden.
The only radical change needed is within.
Full disclosure: I worked at Ebony as an Associate Editor from 1999-2006, some of the best years of my life. John H. Johnson, Linda Johnson Rice and Lerone Bennett Jr. interviewed me for the position; Mr. Bennett remained a constant force in my overall professional development. And what I'm about to write next does not refer to either of them in any way.
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Absolute power derails progress absolutely.
Some of the earliest employees tasted power for the very first time, and they liked it. They craved it, and they abused it like hell, thereby creating a culture of classism, nepotism, colorism and outright bullying that maligned the content providers, that in turn adversely affected the content, turned off the reader, led to a drop in paid subscriptions and advertising dollars, and ultimately stunted the magazine's editorial growth.
This I know; I was a content provider (editor) and after seven years of accolades and raises, a Napoleon made it his mission to raid the coffers for every Ebony perk he could get. When he wasn't doing that, he was bullying the junior staff and sabotaging deadlines. Very little time was paid to growing the magazine's content. There was no system of checks and balances; we were sequestered from reporting it to those in charge. Finally, I blew the whistle on the mismanagement because the phantom assignments and accelerated deadlines affected our ability to do our jobs. (By the way, the whistle-blowing earned me a pink slip and a $5,000 severance offer--if I signed a lengthy waiver vowing to keep my mouth shut. I declined the offer.
And, in retrospect, they were being nice to me.)
This was back in 2006. I went on with my life, finding success in publishing, even co-authoring a bestselling book with Wendy Williams. In 2009, Newsweek reported that Ebony may be up for sale. The bloggers gave very good analyses of what ailed the company, and I responded with an insider's view that ultimately became a little memoir.
But know this: As legendary adman Tom Burrell says, "Black people are not dark skinned White people"; we have our own set of issues and concerns. And Black people all over the world are eagerly embracing the magazine's new designs, editorial direction and digital platforms, but we don't need Ebony to become the dark skinned Vogue.
Now more than ever, we need Ebony to become Ebony.