As featured in January 1997
Dare to Dream
All About about...time- A History of the Magazine, Part I
about...time magazine began as many black
dreams in the early 1970s. The publication was an earnest African-American
effort to build a sense of community. The founders wanted to create a "mirror,"
where black Americans might see a more complete reflection of themselves
than in the mainstream press.
Leaders in the '70s Black Consciousness Movement
called such activities "nation building" -the establishment of
businesses and institutions controlled by blacks. Many critics warned those
activities could lock African Americans in an enclave on the edge of U.S.
society. Those were people who did not know history. The need for blacks
to own institutions, aside from churches, existed because racist laws blocked
African-American participation for three centuries. The trend toward development
flowed from a subtle impulse of hope fueled by a then-newly discovered pride
in black history and culture.
about...time magazine Inc. was chartered
in May 1972. The first issue hit the newsstands in Rochester in December,
after which the monthly publication appeared on a continuous basis. Now,
it's 25. This is the story of its first two years, as much as can be told
in such a limited space.
In 1972, the Rev. Martin Luther King was dead four years, but the dream of social and political equality thrived. The number of black elected officials was on the rise. Research on Africa and black history was burgeoning. Many white colleges and universities began to establish departments of African American studies. Then-President Richard Nixon sought ways to put the brakes on Lyndon Johnson's "War on Poverty," but the drugs, guns, individualism and apathy that would choke the hopeful spirit in many largely black cities was years away.
Many African Americans believed that long-promised
change would come to U.S. society. Most people remembered the marches, riots
and those who died for civil rights. The descendants of hundreds of thousands
of Africans brought to these shores in slave-ship holds watched segregation
give way to instutional racism undaunted. Many who fled North from the pre-civil
rights South, saw their fortunes as better, despite the limits of color
and class.
There was widespread agreement among black folks
that they could be captains of their destinies. A lot of people looked for
a "ship." John Henry Jackson, an entreprenuer who worked many
years during the 1960s as a commercial artist and manager for McCurdy's,
once the city's largest department store, saw a statewide magazine aimed
at black families as such a vehicle. Ebony was 25 years old by that time
and the Rochester native grew up in a city with a history of black newspapers
dating back to 1847. The Frederick Douglass Voice newspaper had informed
the black residents of the city since 1934. The paper, published infrequently
in 1970 by Howard Coles, in name and practice reflected the inspiration
of the former slave and abolitionist icon Federick Douglass, who published
the anti-slavery North Star newspaper more than a century before in the
basement of what was then Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
on Favor Street. Jackson figured it was time to add a different kind of
literary presence to the community-about...time.
The magazine began as an extension of Jack-Son
Advertising, one of a string of businesses the then-42-year-old Jackson
had operated since 1959. Issues of about...time were released in
December 1970 and March 1971, but the initial magazine folded. Today's publication
began in December 1972 with Jackson as publisher. Neither he, nor most of
those who helped him get the publication off the ground knew how to produce
a monthly magazine. That didn't matter. They had a vision. They believed
it was possible. Back then, that was enough to craft a dream into a reality.
Carolyne and James M. Blount arrived in Rochester in 1970. She was a librarian,
once employed at Morgan State College in Baltimore, Maryland. He was an
IBM sales representative whose territory was the core city, where the scars
of the 1960s rioting could be seen in the lack of businesses.
Jack-Son Advertising was looking for a typesetting
machine. James Blount tried to sell him one. Blount admired the magazine.
Having been raised in Virginia he was accustomed to a variety of African-American
publications.
After living four years in Endicott and working for IBM's Federal Systems Division in Owego in New York's Southern Tier, he was glad to see signs the then-new community valued black media. "We fell in love with it," said Carolyne Blount. She became the magazine's co-founder and editor. "Here's something that was very interesting, very intriguing, much better than a newspaper, in terms of the focus."
Endicott left the Blounts with a culture shock.
"There were no black publications at all on the major newsstands in
that Tri-Cities area-Binghamton, Johnson City and Endicott," she said.
"You might have found an Ebony magazine over in Binghamton. That was
the first time in all my life that I did not have black literature available
to me on a regular basis." Black media shapes black minds. "When
you are able to read about yourself and see accomplishments it validates
the positive," she explained. "Everything else we were reading
in the newspapers and seeing on the TV at that time-what little there was-often
reflected the negative." The Blounts and Jackson joined forces. "We
agreed that we would start a whole new business just to concentrate on the
magazine," Carolyne Blount recalled. "That whole winter (1972)
we discussed it. I began researching and writing the charter for the company.
We were looking at it as a full communications vehicle."
Mary Lou Yawn joined as assistant editor. The
first offices were in Bull's Head Plaza across the street from St. Mary's
Hospital at the corner of West Main and Genesee streets on the westside.
Today the building houses the Rochester Police Department's Genesee Substation.
The first issue flashed a picture of Mr. and Mrs. John Wilson, their sons
Ruperd and Johnnie Jr. and daughter Yolanda, gathered with smiling faces
in a holiday songfest around a piano. John Wilson was the second black principal
of Madison High School. The cover story was a six-page feature about how
the institution labored to prepare black students for the challenges of
work or career. The principal wrote it himself. Many of about...time's
early features were contributions by amatuer journalists and photographers.
Some professionals used the magazine to showcase works about black culture,
too.
The January 1973 cover featured model Felicia
Moran. The trend continued. From December 1972 to December 1974, community
happenings not captured in words were caught on film. Being there in Rochester's
black community became about...time's specialty. "We weren't
crafting great literature at that point," said Carolyne Blount. "We
didn't consider ourselves the best writers in the world, but we wanted people
to think about what we as a people could do in a much different way."
about...time included everything from editorials decrying the conditions blacks faced in Rochester to poetry and fiction. George Simmons, then-chair of SUNY Brockport's Department of Social and Humanistic Foundations of Education, wrote a monthly column on education issues. Chef Charles Tillman, widely known for his culinary skill, offered readers recipes for some of his best dishes.
Jackson left the magazine in November 1973, as
did Yawn. about...time turned into a family venture. James Blount
left IBM to become publisher. Carolyne continued to guide the production
effort as editor. Religious events, meetings, anniversaries, celebrations
and even celebrities such as Olympic runner Jesse Owens filled the space
between the covers.
Carolyne Blount summed the first two years as the beginning of a long lesson. The first thing she learned was people like to read about real people, but sometimes real people are not enough to hold readers' attention. The stories had to reveal more than individuals. She wanted Rochester residents to come away from a read of the magazine with a better understanding of themselves.
"I put my love of history with it,"
she said. "I tried to show readers what this person has accomplished
in terms of place and time. I found if I packaged it as an issue-here's
what blacks are attaining-they could understand what it take to get there."
about...time became a place where blacks could learn about Rochester's past and present. The struggle to make the publication provide such information on a consistent basis would last longer than the first two years. Carolyne Blount said she accepted the situation. At the same time, she envisioned a magazine that could spur black readers to dream about their futures.
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