Ebony (magazine)

Ebony is a monthly magazine for the African-American market. It was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945. A digest-sized sister magazine, Jet, is also published by the Johnson Publishing Company.

History

Ebony was founded by John H. Johnson in 1945. The magazine has evolved over the years; in 2010 it began a redesign process to update its longtime brand. In the past, the magazine was persistently upbeat, much like its postwar contemporary Life. Ebony, edited by John H. Johnson, has striven always to address African-American issues, personalities and interests in a positive and self-affirming manner. Its cover photography has focused on prominent African-American public figures, including actors and entertainers, and politicians, such as Dorothy Dandridge, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, US Senator Carol Moseley Braun, President Barack Obama, Zoe Saldana, Tyrese Gibson and Tyler Perry.

For decades, advertisers created ads specifically for Ebony, which featured black models using their products. In the 21st century, many ads in widespread publications already feature black people; Ebony contributes to diversity by also running ads that feature non-black models.

Boyce Watkins

Boyce D. Watkins (born June 20, 1971) is an American author, economist, political analyst, and social commentator. Formerly a member of the finance faculty, and currently a Scholar in Residence in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Syracuse University, he also is a Distinguished Scholar with the Barbara Jordan Institute for Policy Research, and was previously a Visiting Fellow at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the Centre for European Economic Research (Mannheim, Germany). Watkins is also a faculty affiliate with the College Sports Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has authored several financial advice books, including Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with your Partner in Ways that Feel Good, Black American Money, as well as What if George Bush were a Black Man?; his work has also appeared in such publications as the Journal Of Small Business Management, and The Journal of Economics and Business.

In addition to publishing scholarly articles on finance and investing, Watkins is an advocate for education, economic empowerment, and social justice, and has made regular appearances in various national media outlets, including CNN, Good Morning America, MSNBC, Fox News, BET, NPR, Essence Magazine, USA Today, The Today Show, ESPN, The Tom Joyner Morning Show and CBS Sports. He is also a frequent guest on, The Wendy Williams Experience radio program. Watkins is also a frequent contributor to theGrio and TheLoop21.com.

Ebony

Ebony is a dense black hardwood, most commonly yielded by several different species in the genus Diospyros. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. It is finely-textured and has a very smooth finish when polished, making it valuable as an ornamental wood. The word ebony derives from the Ancient Egyptian hbny, via the Ancient Greek ἔβενος (ébenos), by way of Latin and Middle English.

Species

Species of ebony include Diospyros ebenum (Ceylon ebony), native to southern India and Sri Lanka; Diospyros crassiflora (Gabon ebony), native to western Africa; and Diospyros celebica (Makassar ebony), native to Indonesia and prized for its luxuriant, multi-colored wood grain. Mauritius ebony, Diospyros tesselaria, was largely exploited by the Dutch in the 17th century. Some species in the genus Diospyros yield an ebony with similar physical properties, but striped rather than evenly black (Diospyros ebenum).

Uses

Ebony has a long history of use, with carved pieces having been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs. By the end of the 16th century, fine cabinets for the luxury trade were made of ebony in Antwerp. The wood's dense hardness lent itself to refined moldings framing finely detailed pictorial panels with carving in very low relief (bas-relief), usually of allegorical subjects, or with scenes taken from classical or Christian history. Within a short time, such cabinets were also being made in Paris, where their makers became known as ébénistes, which remains the French term for a cabinetmaker.

Tommy Sotomayor

Tommy Sotomayor is an American radio and internet talk show host, YouTube personality, social and political speaker, men's rights activist and film producer.

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