BLK (magazine)

BLK was a monthly American newsmagazine, similar in format to Time and The Advocate, which targeted its coverage of people, events and issues to African-American LGBT readers.

BLK
EditorAlan Bell
CategoriesNewsmagazine
FrequencyMonthly
Circulation37,000 per month
PublisherAlan Bell
First issueDecember 1988
Final issue1994
CompanyBLK Publishing Company, Inc.
CountryUSA
Based inLos Angeles
LanguageEnglish
Website
ISSN1043-0075

Published in Los Angeles, the magazine was initially distributed free to local black establishments frequented by lesbians and gay men, but distribution rapidly expanded to nearly all LGBT venues in Greater Los Angeles. Its early coverage of the local black LGBT scene soon enlarged to a nationwide and international focus, and eventually to national and Canadian distribution.[1]

Sub-titled "The National Black Lesbian and Gay Newsmagazine," with the motto "where the news is colored on purpose", BLK (always capitalized) took its name from the standard abbreviation used in U.S. personal ads for "black," i.e. a person of sub-Saharan racial descent.[2]

History

Alan Bell, an African-American graphic designer who had published Gaysweek for three years in New York City during the late 1970s, was urged to start a news periodical for black lesbians and gay men by black LGBT AIDS activists such as Phill Wilson. But at first he resisted renewing a commitment to professional publishing.[3] Bell had, however, founded Black Jack, a black gay men's safer sex club,[4] in Los Angeles. It was not long before the dearth of reliable information in print about African-American LGBTs and about the HIV crisis among them evoked his efforts to fill an unmet need. Eventually he concluded that the natural next step from the eight-page newsletter he found himself producing monthly for members of Black Jack was expansion, and BLK was born.[5] Bell set out to establish BLK as a regular, predominantly hard news alternative to the infotainment-oriented publications that intermittently appeared in America's black gay communities.[6]

Bell chose the magazine's name to adhere to a tradition among national African-American publications of employing racially indicative titles (e.g., Ebony, Jet, Onyx, Sepia). Initially pronounced as is the word "black," use of the initials in spoken English gradually became customary.

Beginning as a 16-page black-and-white newsprint throwaway in 1988, it had grown to 40 pages with glossy color covers, paid circulation, and national product advertising by the time it ceased publication in mid-1994.[6]

Content and coverage

Although the first issue had a beefcake cover (a muscular black man clad only in the traditional Santa's hat and whiskers, shown with the magazine's coyly-placed logo), subsequent covers usually pictured a prominent African-American LGBT featured in the "BLK Interview" or photographically illustrated a theme of the month.

Among those interviewed were singer Patti LaBelle (August 1990);[7] porn star Randy Cochran (March 1989);[8] poet Audre Lorde (April 1989);[9] Carl Bean, founder of the Minority AIDS Project and of the Unity Fellowship Church (July 1989),[10] Black AIDS Institute founder Phill Wilson (October 1990);[11] Amassi and BMX founder Cleo Manago (March 1990);[12] documentary-maker Marlon Riggs (April 1990);[13] and Marjorie Hill, CEO of Gay Men's Health Crisis (August 1990).[14]

Complete list of cover stories
Date Whole Vol. No. Cover Story Cover Person
December 1988111"Santa Claus"
January 1989212"Remembering Sylvester"Sylvester
February 1989313"J'ai, The Lady Sings the Blues"J'ai
March 1989414"Randy Cochran"Randy Cochran
April 1989515"Oh, Lorde"Audre Lorde
May 1989616"Talking about Ayofemi"Ayofemi Stowe Folayan
June 1989717"It Happened to Me"Roger V Pamplin, Jr.
July 1989818"Rev. Carl Bean"Carl Bean
August 1989919"James Baldwin"James Baldwin
September 198910110"Working Inside"Keith C. St. John
October 198911111"Black and Not Gay"Rev. George Stallings, Jr.
November 198912112"The Many Faces of Jewel"Jewel Williams
December 198913113"Sgt. Perry Watkins"Sgt. Perry Watkins
January 19901421"Job Discrimination"
February 19901522"Lavender Light"
March 19901623"Cleo Manago"Cleo Manago
April 19901724"Marlon Riggs"Marlon Riggs
May 19901825"Volunteerism"(Michael Jones)
June 19901926"Barbara Smith"Barbara Smith
July 19902027"Pride at Home"(Nedra Johnson and Dionne Freeny)
August 19902128"Climbing the Hill"Dr. Marjorie Hill
September 19902229"Audre Lorde"Audre Lorde
October 199023210"Phill Wilson"Phill Wilson
November 199024211"The Road to Michigan"(Lauren Metoyer and Yolanda Whittington)
December 199025212"All in the Family"Ivy Young
January 19912631"Clauras and Wendies"
February 19912732"Heading for Home"James Cleveland
March 19912833"Tax Strategies"(Mitchell El-Mahdy)
April 19912934"No Peace"(Willis Oliver, Jr.)
May 20093035"Has Winnie Lost It?"Winnie Mandela
June 19913136"Joe Simmons"Joe Simmons
July 19913237"High Risk, Low Priority"(Emanuel Tapp)
August 19913338"Young, Gifted and Fierce"Pomo Afro-Homos
October 19913439"La Belle Epoque"Patti LaBelle
January 19923541"Steven Corbin"Steven Corbin
May 19923642"Black Lesbian Women in the Wild"(Lisa Mitchell and Titia Ingram)
September 19923743"Out of Fashanu"Justin Fashanu
December 19933844"Rupaul: Gag on the Calendar"RuPaul
January 19943951"Do They Know that the Mayor of Cambridge is Gay?"Mayor Kenneth Reeves
February 19944052"Mandy Carter Anti-War Activist"Mandy Carter
March 19944153"Must Men Who Love Boys Be Guilty?"Michael Jackson

Sister publications

The company that published BLK also published several other titles directed to the black LGBT community[3] including Blackfire, an erotic magazine for men; Black Lace, an erotic magazine for women; Kuumba, a co-sexual poetry journal; Black Dates, a calendar of events for Southern California and The BLK Guide to Southern California for Black People in the Life. In 1999, the company acquired Mentor, a gay non-black publication focusing on (legal, adult) intergenerational relationships. Blackfire and Kuumba remain in publication.

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See also
  • African-American culture and sexual orientation

References
  1. Ward, Eric K. (February 1993), "BLK Creates Cartoons With Attitude", The Lavender Network, Eugene, OR
  2. "How long will it take to put two and two together?" (Press release). BLK Publishing Company. 1999.
  3. Cathy, Seabaugh (February 1994), "BLK: Focused Coverage for African-American Gays & Lesbians", Outlines, Chicago, 7 (No. 8)
  4. Jim Merrett (1992-04-15). "A Safe Place for Pud Pounding". The Advocate. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  5. "BLK", Black Jack Newsletter, Los Angeles: Alan Bell, p. 3, January 1, 1989
  6. "Alan Bell: BLK", Victory!, Sacramento, 1 (No. 5), April 1994
  7. Bell, Alan (1992), "La Belle Epoque", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (34), pp. 10–17, ISSN 1043-0075
  8. Banneker, Revon Kyle (July 1989), "Randy Cochran", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (4), pp. 8–10, ISSN 1043-0075
  9. Hughes, Chi (April 1989), "Oh, Lorde!", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (5), pp. 6–7, ISSN 1043-0075
  10. Banneker, Revon Kyle (July 1989), "Rev. Carl Bean", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (8), pp. 8–10, ISSN 1043-0075
  11. Ocamb, Karen (October 1990), "Phill Wilson", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (23), pp. 7–17, ISSN 1043-0075
  12. Bell, Alan (March 1990), "Cleo Manago", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (16), pp. 7–18, ISSN 1043-0075
  13. Banneker, Revon Kyle (April 1990), "Marlon Riggs Untied", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (17), pp. 10–19, ISSN 1043-0075
  14. Bell, Alan (August 1990), "Climbing the Hill", BLK, Los Angeles: BLK Publishing Company (23), pp. 9–15, ISSN 1043-0075
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