BLACK VENTURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470032-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 1, 2004
• Sequence Number: 32
• Content Type: MAGAZINE

~ MME
Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-0131
4 MAY 1970
Black Venture I eventually sold the idea to such investors
The birth of a new magazine is al- as First National City. Chase, and Mor-
ways The
struggle against the odds, but con- sera f /uaranty banks, They also intrigued
cider the case of four young black bust- Photographer-Writer Gordon Parks
tor. taking command as editorial dirge-
skier t n, none of whom had ever pub-
Itched anything in his life. They were tor. His professional hand and cyc are
brought together one evening in Har_ evident in the monthly's first issue (circ.
Ic-n 18 months ago at a "black capi- IS 0,000), out this week in 145 cities at
talism" meeting sponsored by the Wall 60? a copy. Its tone is best described
Street brokerage firm of Shearson, as Vopne-cum-Ran rpar-s-=a somewhat
Hammill. This week the result is oil uneasy combination.
the newsstands: Ls.wnee, a stylish month- f In the Vo,r ne tnodc, 20 pages of high-
h
partmcnt or Vogue is obviously the
sou
f
rce o
an Essence section called
"Folks Are Rapping On."
Ramparts' tone of voice is heard
throughout. It is handled well in a col-
laboration between Parks, his son Gor-
don Jr. and Freelance Writer Gilbert jJ
,
Moore. Together they fill eight pages
d
th -
,~j
._. -.? ????~? ??....v I.
ulls and text
bout e Shades of Militancy." But
t
ic militancy carries over even into fea-
Lures on employment tips, travel and a
kind of black Joyce Brothers psychiatric
column. After a while. "the young, ur-
ban, inquisitive and acquisitive black
( } f rI woman," for whom the magazine is in-
L' c';a
d
ron color photography show black
ly magazine lot- black women. "s
The idea of a magazine was sus- models in playsuits, pants, shawls, bath-
gested by Jonathan Blount, then 24 and Ing suits, midis and minis. Six of the
ten
ed, is going to get tired of being to. I
minded of "the long-standing, dehuman-
izing rape of the black woman in Amer-
Ica." In the ' second issue, which the
editors were busily revamping last week,
"the approach is more woman, less
black," says Executive Editor Barbara
K
f
crr,
ormerly of Madentofrelle.
"ESSENCE" FIRST-ISSUE COVER
That the magazine made its first dead-
A good beginning, line at all, let alone impressively, is a )he-
he knows about printing, And Ed Lew- nomcnon in itself. ls.cserrre's full-time I
is over here is a financial planner for staff numbers only 26 (four of whom, in-ing First National City Bank, and he knows took it Kcrr, are white). The first issuo
t
financial planning" Joined b Clarence took its toll of editors In chief, losing
by both Bernadette Carey (f Vogtte) and
Smith, a salesman for Prudential In- Ruth Ross (ex-Newsw o
eek) to shakedown
surance, the foursome began getting to- strife, "It was a good beginning," says
gether at the end of their regular work-
days. From ppublishing talent a Ida Lewis, 34, the pert, formerly Paris-
down From
ubl Madip a based freelance writer just signed on as
and and Sixth and
Avenues, they picked dit talent
the new editor in chief, "but I want to
pcrtnues From pakedeti Iideover from emphasize the positive aspects of black
a graphics consulting firm Hollingsworth kfemininityno' The black woman already
had once started, they took a name: ws what she !s up against.
the Hollingsworth Group. Their first
budget proposal was $5,000,000. Shear- i
son, Hammill ordered a cut. Finally, I
the four began canvassing potential in-
vestors with a $1.5 million proposal.
I
an ad salesman for the New Jersey pages slop the show with bangles and
Bell 't'elephone Co. "All right," said baubles of jewelry against n background
the Shearson, Hammill adviser, "There's of body stockings and black skin. The
Cecil Hollingsworth behind you, and People Are Talking About de_
L took a few months, but. the group
Among companies that volunteered advisers:
TIMr,-Carr:, Newsweek, Psychology Today, New
York, CBS, Young & Rubicam, J.K. , Lasser
Tax Institute, Cowles Communications, Mc-
Cann-Erickson and Lorillard Corp. ,
STAT
Approved For Release 2005/01/11 : CIA-RDP88-01314R000100470032-9