Description
This is the 39th issue of BLK magazine published January 1994. The front cover is printed in color and features an image of Ken Reeves. Reeves is dressed in a suit with a black jacket, white dress shirt, and black and white patterned tie. He has a white pocket square, a silver watch in his left wrist, and wearing glasses. Reeves is seated, looking straight at the camera, with his hands folded over some documents. At the top and centered to the left, [BLK] is printed in bold, white, uppercase letters within a dark blue rectangular box. Outside of the bottom left corner of the [BLK] text box is the magazine issue information; in small, white text it reads [January 1994 / Vol. 5, No. 1 / Whole No. 39 / $2.95 U.S. / $3.95 Canada]. At the bottom and aligned to the left are the news sections listed in blue text, [NEWS / WORD UP / PEOPLE / MUSIC / THEATER / BOOKS / CARTOONS / BLK TEA / CLASSIFIEDS]. To the right of the [BLK] text box is the magazine headline in orange text. [Do They / Know / That the / Mayor of / Cambridge / Is Gay?]. There 36 numbered pages, stapled the center fold, with articles, advertisements, classifieds, black and white photographs, and cartoon illustrations throughout.
The inside of the cover features the ad [Black Lesbians and Gays from Silence to Celebration Beyond the 28 Days / 7th Annual National Black Gay and Lesbian / Conference and Institutes]. The content opens with the section [WORD UP] by Leon Miller with eight short articles: [Bonilla Calls Reporter ‘Faggot’] about Bobby Bonilla and Bob Klapsich, [Gloria Gaynor Prays for Homosexuals], [Tina Turner Calls Ike ‘Blessed’], [Not Those Kind of Black Books] about African American publications Little Black Book, True Colors, and Black Sheets,[Company Says ‘No’ to Panties at Work], [Captain Says Powell Knew He Was Gay] about Army General Colin Powell and Army Captain Michael McManus, [Rosa Parks Gets Gay Ski Group’s Nod] and [WRFG: Thumbs Up, Down] about Atlanta radio station WRFG. The section is accompanied by a mini section titled [10 Reasons Why No Out Black Lesbians Top Major U.S. Firms] on page 2.
This is followed by four letters to the editor in the section [BLK MAIL] on pages 4 and 5, with the [BLK] masthead on page 5.
The cover story, which begins on page 7, is titled [Mayor / Ken / Reeves / CAM / BRIDGE MASSA / CHU / SETTS / HIS HONOR IS THE NATION’S / ONLY OPENLY GAY, AFRICAN / AMERICAN MAYOR. WHEN HE / ‘CAME OUT’ A WHOLE YEAR / AGO, WAS IT REALLY NEWS?]. Written by Shawn Hinds, the article begins with Greater Boston Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance awards ceremony in December 1992, where Mayor Reeves made it clear that he is gay. Reeves, along with members of the Cambridge Lavender Alliance, acknowledge that he never kept his sexuality as secret, but never announced as he never felt he had to. The article goes on to talk about the nation’s first openly gay African American mayor’s role models and the Black lesbian and gay movement. However, the article is cut short and there is no continuation in the magazine. It continues in the following issue, NMAAHC 2018.108.40, on page 12.
Several shorter articles appear under the section [BLK NEWS] complied by Nark Haile, Shawn Hinds, and Don Thomas. Beginning on page 19, these articles include: [Committee, Hall, Ford, Childs to ‘Hall of Fame’] about the Ad Hoc Committee of Proud Black Lesbians and Gays and the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame, [Playwright Gets Life in Murder] referencing an article in NMAAHC 2018.108.38 about Shawn Deveareaux, [Reggie Williams to Leave NTFAP] about the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention, [Lambda Fund Honors Wilson] about Phill Wilson and the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fun, [160 Lesbians at Nia ‘Gathering’], [Plans Afoot for Black Pride Day], [Concerned Gentlemen Award Grants], [Hite, Norman Get $25,000] about Earnest Hite Jr. and Pat Norman being winders of the Stonewall Award for 1993, [Deaths Called Murder, Suicide] about Venus Landin, co-chair of the African-American Lesbian and Gay Alliance, and Bisa Niambi, [3rd Annual ULOAH Retreat Attracts 135] about the United Lesbians of African Heritage, [Johnson Settles HIV Lawsuit] about Earvin “Magic” Johnson, and [‘Gay Rights’ Video Targets Black Right] reading the Traditional Values Coalition. The section includes a photograph of Simon Nkoli and Mayor David N. Dinkins.
This is followed by [MUSIC] by D.J. Marius on page 15 with one album review [NYC Badmen / NYC Badmen / (StepSun Music)]. The section [Theater] by Don Thomas discussed George C. Wolfe on the next page. The gossip column [BLK TEA] written by Preston G. Guider is on page 19.
This is followed by [BLK VEIL] on page 30 and lists thirty obituaries: Charles E. Barney, Hyland Boddie Jr., Oscar “OB” Brown”, Willie Brown, E. Kitch Childs, Michael Anthony “Mikolas” Crews, Jeff Dabbs, Willis E. (Sonny) Davis, Gary DeLoatch, Kliphe “Leggs Galore” Gillard, Roy Gonsalves, Maury Anthony Harris, Vincent C. Heflin, Fred Hilliard, Herbert Hunter, Richard Hyde, Billy Lee Jefferson, Lenny Lyons, Dempsey James Mapp, Sean Maurice Mitchell, Ernest Morgan, George Victor Ray Jr., Lucius Howard Richardson Jr., Melvin G. Ross Jr., Donald “Dana Lareese” Simmons, Bernard Turner, Tony Warfield, David Lightfoot Weems, Charles William-Ford, and David Woody.
The issue concludes with the section [BLK MARKET] on page 23 and the classifieds section [TALKING PERONALS] starting on page 24 with personal ads divided by gender, nation, then U.S. states.
The back cover is a full-page advertisement [PRIORITIES] by Dr. Reginald J. Warren INC.
The object came with an insert: a paid postage to subscribe to [Out].
There are several advertisements throughout, including: [HIV / It Can Affect Anyone At Anytime] by the Minority AIDs Project; [EMPOWER LIFE]; [BLACK & WHITE MEN TOGETHER – WHY?? / INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIPS]; [I Want It / ARIES]; [California / AIDS Ride]; [PROUD / TO BE / YOUR BUD / Budweiser]; [THE BLACK GAY MEN’S RAP]; [BLACKfire / BLACK LACE]; [Who / is / Missy / Caramichael / National Talent Search]; [COMMUNITY / PRESCRIPTION / SERVICE / A Mail-Order Pharmacy & AIDS Information Service]; [City Scan]; [Unity / Fellowship / Church]; [Asian Pacific / AIDS / Intervention Team]; and [THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / GAY & LESBIAN EXPOSITION / EXPO 94].
