A Queen on KING

So KING magazine folded recently. Another magazine gone. It felt rather personal. And like most personal moments I don't respond right away and let the news sink in.

I just read Aliya's post (LOVE HER BLOG) on it and felt I wanted to share my two cents.

I'm a feminist so a magazine accused of objectifying women definitely got plenty of side eye, until I picked up King and read it. I always learned something. Sure I always thought, couldnt they cover this girl just a little more or did she have to pose bent over, from the back. But if it took that pose to get a young Black man who otherwise wouldnt be reading the info inside, well, guess we can make a little concession.

And the staff. Throughout my time at HU with Cover to Cover their writers and editors always supported students trying to break in. They sent copies of more than one issue to our conferences and welcomed students by. I invited Aliya down to a panel we hosted Senior year and I loved hearing the story of how the Baby's Daddy Manual came together, something I thing should be printed in pamphlets and distributed.

In New York later that year, me and the Cover to Cover VP actually saw Datwon and Jermaine out at lunch during our trip to NY, right before it was announced Jermaine was the new EIC. She was a huge fan of the magazine and I urged her to say hello. We did and they were extra cool

Once I got to NY, not only was the Hilltop homie Jozen on staff, but also my fellow mag head John Kennedy and it was exciting to see us both transition from college grads to EAs at magazines we loved. We met for lunch and AIMed.

Then that fall our senior writer was working on a cheating story and there were talks of getting King to possibly help get men to take a survey. So she and I headed over to the King offices. It was like walking into Drew Hall, the post-college edition. We met in one of the top execs offices and editors from the mag filed in. All these young Black men who were witty and creative. I loved the way they interacted and what constituted common knowledge. For examples they quoted Martin episodes and Tribe Called Quest songs. It was like a frat house minus the bbq grill. Well maybe there was a grill i didnt see.

Aliya made the great point of where else would you find that many Black men as magazine editors.

Well, Im sure they will all be fine and some cool new site will help fill the void of the mag. Still hate to see a sweet spot for the brothers go