YSB (magazine)

Last updated
YSB
Categories lifestyle magazine
Frequencymonthly
Formatprint
PublisherPaige Publications [1]
Founder Robert L. Johnson [1]
First issueSeptember 1991
Final issueOctober 1996
Company BET
CountryUnited States
Based in3109 M Street NW,
Washington, D.C.
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 1056-6198

YSB, an acronym for Young Sisters and Brothers, was an African American monthly lifestyle magazine, in print publication from 1991 until 1996. [2] [1] The magazine was founded by Robert L. Johnson as a subsidiary of BET. [3] [1] [4] It was the first national African American lifestyle magazine specifically for teenagers age 13 to 19. [5] [6] [7] It was designed to build teenagers self-esteem, [8] and marketed for the "hip-hop generation". [2] [1]

Contents

History

YSB debuted the first issue in September 1991. [9] The magazine offered news stories on music, fashion, as well as then-current issues facing teens including substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. [10] [11] BET's publishing division also published Emerge magazine, BET Weekend, and Heart & Soul magazine. [12] [13] Contributors to the magazine included Kenji Jasper (journalist), [14] Jelani Cobb (journalist), [15] Frank Dexter Brown (editor), [16] Fo Wilson (also known as Folayemi Wilson; creative director), [17] and Lance Pettiford (creative director). [18]

Shortly before the last issue in October 1996, BET and Microsoft joined efforts to publish the print magazine online, and at the time only 11% of African American households had access to the internet at home (compared to 29% of white households at this same time). [10] [19] The magazine had been operating at an annual loss of almost $2 million prior to closure. [2] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At 1,046 ft (319 m), it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel framework, and it was the world's tallest building for 11 months after its completion in 1930. As of 2019, the Chrysler is the 12th-tallest building in the city, tied with The New York Times Building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991</span> Calendar year

1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1991st year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 991st year of the 2nd millennium, the 91st year of the 20th century, and the 2nd year of the 1990s decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Haring</span> American artist and social activist (1958–1990)

Keith Allen Haring was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his work includes sexual allusions that turned into social activism by using the images to advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness. In addition to solo gallery exhibitions, he participated in renowned national and international group shows such as documenta in Kassel, the Whitney Biennial in New York, the São Paulo Biennial, and the Venice Biennale. The Whitney Museum held a retrospective of his art in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Ailey</span> American dancer and activist (1931–1989)

Alvin Ailey Jr. was an American dancer, director, choreographer, and activist who founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT). He created AAADT and its affiliated Alvin Ailey American Dance Center as havens for nurturing Black artists and expressing the universality of the African-American experience through dance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nelson George</span> American writer and filmmaker

Nelson George is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

On April 10, 1990, Phillip C. Pannell, an African-American teenager, was shot and killed by Gary Spath, a white police officer in Teaneck, New Jersey. Pannell, who police suspected of possessing a pistol, was running from police when he was shot in the back with his hands raised. Spath was later charged and acquitted of manslaughter. The case created controversy over allegations of racial profiling and police brutality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Jamison</span> American dancer and choreographer (born 1943)

Judith Ann Jamison is an American dancer and choreographer. She is the artistic director emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1585 Broadway</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

1585 Broadway, also called the Morgan Stanley Building, is a 42-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and Emery Roth & Sons and was developed by David and Jean Solomon. 1585 Broadway occupies a site on the west side of Broadway between 47th and 48th Streets. The building has served as the headquarters of financial-services company Morgan Stanley since 1995.

Johnson Products Company (JPC) is a privately held American business based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for manufacturing a line of hair care and cosmetic products for African American consumers under the names Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen. The company was a longtime sponsor of the syndicated US television dance show Soul Train until that program's cancellation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jelani Cobb</span> American writer, author and educator

William Jelani Cobb is an American writer, author, educator, and dean of the Columbia Journalism School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewell Jackson McCabe</span>

Jewell Jackson McCabe is an American feminist, business executive, social and political activist. She was a leader of, and spokesperson for, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women's movement in the mid to late 1970s in New York City and for the national movement throughout the United States in the early 1980s into the 1990s, as founder of the organization which grew out of her New York City stewardship. In 1993 she became the first woman in 84 years to be in serious contention for the presidency of the civil rights organizations NAACP. Distinguished as an activist Jewell collaborated with several leading African American women leaders of varied and often opposing political ideologies who had in common their opposition to the million man march for excluding black women, including Angela Davis.

<i>Kiki</i> (2016 film) 2016 American film

Kiki is an American-Swedish co-produced documentary film, released in 2016. It takes place in New York City, and focuses on the "drag and voguing scene [and] surveys the lives of LGBT youth of color at a time when Black Lives Matter and trans rights are making front-page headlines". The film was directed by Sara Jordenö and considered an unofficial sequel to the influential 1990 film Paris Is Burning, the film profiles several young LGBT people of colour participating in contemporary LGBT African American ball culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Weiss Federal Building</span> Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

The Ted Weiss Federal Building, also known as the Foley Square Federal Building, is a 34-story United States Federal Building at 290 Broadway in the Civic Center neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1994, the building was developed by Linpro New York Realty and designed by Hellmuth Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), with Raquel Ramati Associates as the design consultant and Tishman Construction as the general contractor. The building is named for Ted Weiss (1927–1992), a U.S. representative from New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aesha Ash</span> American ballet dancer and teacher

Aesha Ash is an American ballet dancer and teacher. She danced numerous leading roles as a member of New York City Ballet's corps de ballet and as a soloist with Béjart Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. Following her retirement from performing, she founded The Swan Dreams Project in 2011 to dispel stereotypes about Black women in ballet. In 2020, she became the first African American female faculty member at the School of American Ballet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Jones (Rockette)</span> American dancer and actress (born 1967)

Jennifer Jones is an American dancer and actress. In 1987, she became the first African American Radio City Music Hall Rockette.

The Atlanta Black Star is the largest black-owned digital publication in the United States. The publication is based in Atlanta, Georgia which focuses on the African American perspective on politics. It was founded in 2012 by Neil "Jelani" Nelson, Tracy Dornelly, and Andre Moore. The site has over 14 million monthly unique visitors.

Richard Elovich is a social psychologist, writer, performance artist, and AIDS activist focusing on harm reduction and low-threshold approaches to drug treatment.

Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker, installation artist, muralist, and graphic designer. Wilson is the first associate dean for access and equity in the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture.

Nekesa Mumbi Moody is an American journalist and editor. She is currently the editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Whitaker, Matthew (2011-03-09). Icons of Black America: Breaking Barriers and Crossing Boundaries [3 volumes]: Breaking Barriers and Crossing Boundaries [Three Volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 487. ISBN   978-0-313-37643-6.
  2. 1 2 3 Iverem, Esther (October 23, 1996). "Death of An Ideal". Washington Post.
  3. Elliott, Stuart (1991-09-16). "Addenda: Black Media Concerns To Offer Package Deals". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  4. Muhhamad, Tariq K. (June 1997). "B. E. Company of the Year". Black Enterprise (magazine). Vol. 27, no. 11. Earl G. Graves, Ltd. pp. 156–164. ISSN   0006-4165.
  5. Radical America, Volumes 24-25. Alternative Education Project. 1990. p. 15.
  6. Kuntz, Tom (1994-04-24). "Word for Word/Teen Magazines; Read This. It's Just So Totally Freaked Out. I Mean, Go for It, Dude". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  7. Carmody, Deirdre (1991-05-23). "The Media Business; Black Cable TV Service Starts Magazine Drive". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  8. Capace, Nancy (2001-01-01). Encyclopedia of Mississippi. Somerset Publishers, Inc. p. 249. ISBN   978-0-403-09603-9.
  9. Ross, Michael E. (1993-12-26). "At Newsstands, Black Is Plentiful". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  10. 1 2 3 Fields-White, Monee (August 23, 2010). "Black Magazines of the '90s: Where Are They Now?". The Root . Archived from the original on July 6, 2012.
  11. Krishnan, Satya P.; Durrah, Tracy; Winkler, Karen (1997). "Coverage of AIDS in Popular African American Magazines" (PDF). Health Communication. 9 (3): 273–288. doi:10.1207/s15327027hc0903_5 . Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  12. Smith-Shomade, Beretta E. (2012-08-21). Pimpin' Ain't Easy: Selling Black Entertainment Television. Routledge. p. 67. ISBN   978-1-135-86948-9.
  13. "Debra L. Lee steps to CEO level at BET". African American News. June 2, 2005.
  14. Weeks, Linton (June 22, 2001). "Street Smart Book Smarts". Washington Post.
  15. "Cobb, William Jelani". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  16. Reynolds, J. R. (1994-01-29). "Labels Examine Black History Via Lecture Series". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 23.
  17. Bateman, Anita; Vendryes, Margaret. "Onward Fo! From Graphic Designer To Conceptual Artist And More". International Review of African American Art (IRAAA). Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  18. Newman, Robert (2013-02-25). "Archive: YSB Magazine: Classic 1990s Covers". The Society of Publication Designers (SPD).
  19. "BET and Microsoft Team Up To Go On-line". Jet (magazine). Johnson Publishing Company. 1996-02-26. p. 62.