Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 19, 1995 TAG: 9502210041
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LINDA JONES DALLAS MORNING NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He is sure that the supplement, Legacy, which features stories about African-American legends and landmarks, will be well-received by the members of New Hope Baptist Church because they are always seeking information about their heritage.
That's why he plans to wait until after he delivers his sermon before distributing the copies as gifts.
``It would be suicide for me to give it to them while I'm trying to preach,'' he says. ``They'd all be reading the magazine.''
That is exactly the kind of interest Legacy publisher Rodney Reynolds and his backers hope the magazine will generate.
If it does, Legacy, which made its debut in time for Black History Month, will be more than a one-time supplement to American Heritage, the history and culture magazine published by Forbes Inc. It has a good chance of becoming a quarterly publication and may eventually stand alone.
``I don't see why a publication on African-American history would not get a positive response,'' says a confident Reynolds, a Cleveland-based magazine publisher who approached American Heritage president Tim Forbes last year with the idea of publishing a national magazine devoted to African-American history.
Reynolds, who owns RJR Communications, had tested the idea in Cleveland with Renaissance, a magazine focusing on local African-American history.
It was popular among readers, but he had to discontinue it after four years because of a lack of financial backing.
He convinced Forbes that a national African-American history magazine could work. They entered a joint venture last year to publish a single issue with an eye to doing more.
``Let's face it, it's a part of American history that hasn't been widely told and hasn't been appreciated fully by everybody,'' says Forbes during a telephone interview from his New York office.
``We hope we will have a strong enough response to be able to go forward to do it two or four times a year.''
Featured in the current 56-page issue is a profile of Eugene Jacques Bullard, who was America's first black aviator, according to the writer, history Professor Jamie Cockfield. Bullard chose to fly for France in World War I because the U.S. military would not accept a black flier.
Author Gene Smith profiles Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Negro History Week, which has evolved into African-American History Month. The career of pioneering rock 'n' roller Little Richard is highlighted by music journalist Tony Scherman.
A special section on African-American landmarks written by Detroit newspaper columnist George Cantor and a tribute to artist Archibald Motley Jr. by art scholar Floyd Coleman also are featured.
Half of the 500,000 copies printed have been distributed to American Heritage subscribers. The rest are being distributed free to churches, colleges and civic groups upon request.
``Our congregation was just elated,'' says Liz Davis, secretary at St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, where the Rev. Zan Holmes ordered 1,000 copies that were distributed last week.
``I had to hold some back so I'd have some left to hand out the next Sunday. If it has anything to do about our history, they want it.''
Publishing a black history supplement has drawn mixed reviews from some occasional readers of American Heritage, who feel that more stories about African-Americans should be included in its pages.
Shirlee Taylor Haizlip, a black author who wrote an article that appears in the February/March issue of American Heritage, says she had long regarded it as a magazine that was respected but ``geared toward upscale white people.''
``I've never been motivated to read it because it didn't seem to have too much black history in it,'' says Haizlip, author of ``The Sweeter The Juice,'' a memoir about her family, some of whom passed for white and severed all ties with the rest.
But Haizlip says the editors did seek her out to write several pieces for them. Her article in the current issue, called ``Passing,'' was well-received, she says.
Senior editor Carla Davidson says the magazine published approximately 100 stories focusing on African-American history between its founding in 1954 and 1989. More recent issues have not been indexed.
``I wouldn't say 50 percent have been about African-Americans, but there have always been stories,'' says Davidson. She says the magazine has actually fallen shorter in publishing historic pieces about Hispanics.
The intent of publishing Legacy is not to segregate the African-American story, according to Davidson, but to highlight it.
Legacy is currently not available at newsstands. To order copies, contact Rodney Reynolds, Legacy Magazine, Circulation Department, 60 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011.
by CNB