5/18/2023 0 Comments The time it never rainedSome of those events were not celebratory: the assassinations of King and Malcolm X, for example. Holding those magazine issues decade after decade was also a way to remind us of the signature moments of our history. These magazines that exalted Black excellence also provided a tangible reminder - one that could be seen on the coffee table and later stashed away for posterity on a closet shelf - that we could aspire to such levels of achievement as well. In a pre-civil rights-era America, where the fury of racial hatred and oppression rained down on Black Americans every day, it was a comfort to keep these magazines as a reminder that - however much White society tried to diminish us - we as a people were bold, resourceful, intelligent, talented and gifted. These figures were household names even for White Americans, but for people who looked like us, they were Black royalty. Plastered on their covers were the faces of the Supremes or Malcolm X or the Rev. My grandmother held on to decades of copies that were most special to her.
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