Essay on Black Literature and Black People
Number of words: 1751
A magazine by the name Freedom’s Journal was actually the first journal to be owned by African Americans. This journal was published on 16th March 1827. The pioneers or rather the people involved in the creation of Freedom’s journal were Samuel Cornish and Russwurm who were free-born men. The information that was in this journal focused on both domestic and foreign news. Again, there was also advertisements, births, and deaths for the African American community as well as biographies and editorials covered in this magazine. All these contents were detailed in this magazine and hence the African American people were able to source information form it. The work in this journal was amazing because there were various stories which explained the origin of the black generation. Many people had a belief that Freedom’s Journal was written so that it could defend the African American form the Caucasians who were very belligerent. This is not the case, the content in Freedom’s Journal was created to generally help the black community in understanding of current issues. The other key reasons for publication of this journal was to enable the black community to have clear information on the non-racist. Again, Freedom’s Journal was to give them the motivation to read literary works. This literary work had a shortcoming in that it greatly supported the colonization of Africa by the African American. On the other hand, the existence of this newspaper was of essence because out of it other over 40 black magazines were published and they were owned by the black people in the entire United States within a period of three decades.
The publication of Freedom’s Journal made it simple for the blacks to have a good access to information instead of relying on the Caucasians so as to get information. The black people are able to get a lot of information from the written literary works by blacks without necessarily consulting the whites. Some magazines such as Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence as well as Jet have found their roots from Freedom’s Journal. Actually, Freedom’s Journal was the foundation for the creation of other magazines. The message contained in today’s literary works has been hand in hand with the black struggle. Even though there is an advancement in modern-day newspapers, the message found there has always been confined within the boundaries of the black community. The core values of the community have not been tampered with as they give the people the intended information. However, the method in which the information is being haired today has changed due to advancement in technology. Due to this fact, there are some television networks created and primarily owned by the blacks which distribute information in the modern society. Some of these television networks include BET and OWN. These television networks help us to have a non-bias source of information as well as entertainment because we live in a nation that is run primarily by the Caucasians.
In his publications, John H. Johnson wrote Ebony magazine in November 1945 and the information found here is news inform of pictures. Previously, Johnson was working on Negro Digest (finally retitled Black World) before dedicating his time to Ebony. Negro Digest was focusing on economic stability, social action, politics as well as spiritual health for blacks. That is the information contained in the Negro Digest. On the other hand, in Ebony, was created so that it can recognize the lives of the African American in a positive way. The information in the Ebony majorly covered the history of black people, businesses, personalities, sports and health to mention a few. All the above information was contained in the Ebony newspaper paper and it used to celebrate the lives of African American people. Actually, the lives of the blacks were honored in Ebony because the lives of these individuals were displayed against stereotypes such that whoever was reading it was inspired overcoming racial and other barriers to success. Sincerely, at that time the African Americans were given a sense of identity. During this time, the African American people were looked down upon facing the incidences of racism. They were despised in the society and they were seen as immigrants hence racial discrimination. Ebony was however created so that the blacks could be given a sense of identity and hence show them that they were not ugly people. It is equally important for we people to encourage one another and therefore give others goals in life rather than discriminating. It is also evident that the magazines that were run by blacks created jobs for the African am American communities hence the entire society improved. The needs of the blacks were articulated in these black run magazines and we felt some sense of identity.
After Johnson completed his work with Ebony, he continued to educate the black people telling them that they were unique and beautiful. Johnson had a desire to reach numerous African American people to let them know their worth. There before, in every home was a television or a radio which could give information on unequal, but a magazine by the name JET showed how the lives of African Americans could surpass the racial oppression boundary. From the word go, JET was giving information on the economic success of the black people as well as the upward mobility of its people. The information found in this magazine was a brave work of one man who had a strong belief in the African American people. JET is historically known due to its notable contribution in covering the Montgomery bus boycott, Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr. as well as the Emmett Till murder. African Americans are able to hear reports of their people because the media is bound to its audience. White supremacy of the white people was depicted in the white media such that any report concerning the blacks was false, bias or racist. Johnson stood in the gap and hence he gave an alternative. JET magazine published information on current events as well as fashion and beauty tips, health tips, dating advice entertainments and guidelines on diet. The main goal of Johnson to create JET magazine was to make the African American people appreciate their race as well as visualizing success whenever they see affirmative images of blacks and also encouraging stories of black life.
William Banks was the first person to start a TV station which aired exclusively African American stories in the year 1964 although it had its debut in 1975. The name of the TV station was WGPR-TV which was an acronym for Where God’s Presence Radiates. The items which were broadcasted in this television station include religious shows, old cartoons, and shows for R&B music as well as drama. The most significant advantage of WGRP-TV is that it created jobs opportunities for the African American people (Washington). Several black people got jobs in the television station some acquiring position like producers, directors, and others such as on-air roles. Notable shows such as “The Scene” were aired on TV 62. The Scene produced programs such as “Big City News” as well as “Auction Movie.” Career opportunities such as editors, photographers and reporters were given to various young African American people. WGPR-TV helped the blacks to have fundamental training and experience and hence the blacks could have a chance of working behind a camera.
Advancement in technology enabled us, black people, to create another television station which by far improved our lives. BET came in the year 1980 after the creation of WGPR-TV. Black Entertainment Television (BET) was founded by Robert L. Johnson and its main objectives were the provision of entertainment, news as well as other programmes for African Americans. In this television station, the young audience was attracted by music videos at the same time the older audiences could watch politics section. WGPR-TV and BET encouraged other black people to come up with other television networks (Washington). Afterward, many television networks owned by black people came into existence and hence African American people have felt some sense of identity.
It is clearly evident that the African American people have been putting more efforts so that their daily lives can improve. Form the very first time a newspaper owned by a black person was created to the launching of a television owned by a black person, a lot of transition has taken place which required a lot of sacrifice from the blacks. The lives of these people have been given a positive view ever since because they can get information about their people from magazines and television stations which they have trust in. The message which is gotten from these sources has always remained consistent. Our people were able to have a knowhow of issues which happened around them from Ebony and JET created by Johnson. The blacks were always reminded that they were unique, beautiful as well as they have some sense of identity in a Caucasian controlled society. Individuals such as Ryan Coogler have secured jobs in directing Black Panther which is a program in the television station owned by a William Banks who first started it. In my case have a passion for films and hence my desire is to follow what my forerunners did in bringing the sense of identity to black people. It is my feeling that still, a gap exists in the number of televisions shows as well as movies for African Americans. Hence, I may change my strategy and help in creating many cartoons, shows or movies which will demonstrate black individuals in a positive manner and therefore they will have a positive appreciation of oneself.
Works Cited
Washington, James. “Did You Know WGPR-TV Detroit Was The First African American Owned Television Station? | Urban Intellectuals.” Urban Intellectuals. N.p., 2018. Web. 17 Sept. 2018. https://urbanintellectuals.com/2017/12/04/did-you-know-wgpr-tv-detroit was-the-first-african-american-owned-television-station/