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A Hero to Be Remembered: Ebony Magazine, Critical Memory and the “Real Meaning” of the King Holiday

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2016

E. JAMES WEST
E. JAMES WEST*
Affiliation:
Department of American Studies, University of Manchester. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

This article explores the role of Ebony magazine as a key staging ground for competing political and ideological debates over Martin Luther King Jr's legacy, and the struggle for a national holiday in his name. In doing so, it provides an important case study into the contestations between what Houston Baker has described as “black critical memory” and “black conservative nostalgia.” In response to attempts by Ronald Reagan and other politicians to reimagine King as an advocate for color-blind conservatism, Ebony’s senior editor, Lerone Bennett Jr., sought to situate King's legacy within a radical “living history” of black America. However, the magazine's broader coverage of the King holiday movement betrayed underlying tensions within its discussion of King's legacy, and fed into the magazine's role as an inadvertent frame for color-blind ideologies during the 1980s.

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Articles
Information
Journal of American Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , May 2018 , pp. 503 - 527
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press and British Association for American Studies 2016 

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110 The black magazine with the closest circulation to Ebony was Jet, a weekly newsmagazine also produced by Johnson Publishing which had a circulation of around 820,000 by the mid-1980s. For the year prior to December 1986, Ebony’s average paid monthly circulation was 1,737,799, that of Black Enterprise was 242,669, and that of The Crisis was 235,500. “Statement of Circulation,” Ebony, Dec. 1986, 23; “Statement of Circulation,” The Crisis, March 1986, 145; “Statement of Circulation,” Black Enterprise, Jan. 1986, 18; “Statement of Circulation,” Jet, 25 Nov. 1985, 19.

111 This figure was based on a paid monthly circulation of around 1,800,000, and a significant pass-on readership. “Backstage,” Ebony, March 1985, 24.

112 “Literary Giants Pay Tribute to Historian-Author Bennett,” Jet, 10 July 1980, 7.

113 “John Johnson to Lerone Bennett, 1983”, Box 1, Lerone Bennett Papers, Chicago State University; “Literary Giants Pay Tribute to Historian-Author Bennett,” 6.

114 For an excellent insight into Fuller's relationship with Johnson see Fenderson, “Journey toward a Black Aesthetic”, 214–20.

115 During the 1970s, Bennett became increasingly critical of black consumer culture as a distraction from the struggle for racial equality. Lerone Bennett, “Of Time, Space and Revolution,” Ebony, Aug. 1969, 31–39, 34; Bennett, “An Adamant No,” 39.

116 Kete, The American American People, 367.

117 “Coretta Scott King: Keeping the Dream Alive,” Ebony, Jan. 1980, 60–67, 60.

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124 Lerone Bennett, “The Crisis of the Black Spirit,” Ebony, Oct. 1977, 142–44, 142.

125 Lerone Bennett, “The Lost/Found Generation,” Ebony, Aug. 1978, 35–42, 35.

126 Marable, “The Black Elite vs Reaganism”, 5.

127 “Kool,” The Crisis, Feb. 1984, 54.

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129 Ronald Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on Martin Luther King, Jr., and Black Americans,” 18 Jan. 1986; “7Up,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 43; “Sears,” Ebony, Jan. 1987, 73.

130 Bennett, “Why Black History Is Important to You,” 66.

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132 “Ebony interview with Diana Ross,” Ebony, Nov. 1981, 38–50, 39.

133 Stephen Gayle, “Commercial Success,” Black Enterprise, Dec. 1981, 51–56, 53.

134 “Statement of Ownership,” Ebony, Jan. 1981, 20; “Statement of Ownership,” Ebony, Dec. 1990, 145; Earl Graves, “Publisher's Page,” Black Enterprise, June 1984, 13.

135 “Publishers Statement,” Ebony, Nov. 1985, 37.

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138 Ronald Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on Civil Rights”, 15 June 1985.

139 Laham, The Reagan Presidency and the Politics of Race, 74–75.

140 Howard Kutz, “King Cited in Defense of End to Hiring Goals”, Washington Post, 16 Jan. 1986, A11.

141 Lerone Bennett, “A Living History,” Ebony, Feb. 1985, 27–32, 27.

142 Ibid., 28.

143 Ibid., 28.

144 “IBM,” Ebony, Jan. 1985, 12; “McDonalds,” Ebony, Feb. 1985, 51.

145 “Anheuser-Busch,” Ebony, Feb. 1985, 21; “AT & T,” Ebony, March 1985, 9; “Anheuser-Busch,” The Crisis, Feb. 1985, 83.

146 Patrice Gaines-Carter, “Is My ‘Post-integration’ Daughter Black Enough?” Ebony, Sept. 1985, 54–56, 54.

147 “Letters to the Editor,” Ebony, Dec. 1985, 17.

148 “Letters to the Editor,” Ebony, May 1981, 12.

149 Lerone Bennett, “The Real Meaning of the King Holiday,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 31.

150 “The Living King,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 62–63, 62.

151 Dyson, I May Not Get There With You, 28; Fairclough, Adam, “Was Martin Luther King a Marxist?” History Workshop, 15 (Spring 1983), 117–25, 184CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

152 Daynes, Making Villains, Making Heroes, 51.

153 “In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 64–72, 64; “The World Honors MLK through Stamps,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 82–84, 82.

154 Coretta Scott King, “Martin's Legacy,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 105–8, 108.

155 “Memorable Photos from the King Years,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 86–103, 86.

156 “What Martin Luther King Jr. Means to Me,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 74–80, 74.

157 The figures featured in the article were Ralph Abernathy, Evelyn Ashford, Howard Baker, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Dorothy Height, Jesse Jackson, T. J. Jemison, Edward Kennedy, Joseph Lowery and Andrew Young.

158 “The Crusade for a King Holiday,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 36–38, 36.

159 “AT & T,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 55.

160 “Coors,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 3.

161 “Greyhound,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 21.

162 “McDonalds,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 33; “7UP,” Ebony, Jan. 1986, 43.

163 Baker, “Critical Memory and the Black Public Sphere,” 3.

164 Dagbovie, African American History Reconsidered, 39.

165 Daynes, Making Villains, Making Heroes, 63.

166 “Backstage,” Ebony, June 1980, 30.

167 Dyson, I May Not Get There With You, 13–14; Fairclough, “Was Martin Luther King a Marxist?” 118; West, The Radical King, xii.