In 1942, when
John H. Johnson sought financial backing for his first magazine project, he was unable to find any backers—black or white. From white bank officers to the editor of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's (NAACP) nonprofit publication, all agreed that a magazine aimed at a black audience had no chance for any kind of success. Johnson at the time worked at the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company and had the idea of funding the
Negro Digest by writing everyone on their mailing list and soliciting a two-dollar, prepaid subscription, calculating that even a 15 percent response would give him the amount needed to publish the first issue. To obtain the 500 dollars needed for postage to mail his letters, he had to use his mother's furniture as a security on a loan. Johnson called the magazine the
Negro Digest after the ''Reader's Digest
and reprinted articles by and about African-American scholars from the African-American and Caucasian media. It was edited by Ben Burns. Despite being called the Negro Digest'', the magazine usually reproduced articles in their entirety, rather than digests. This column concentrated strongly on the unsolicited advice that the African-American race had received, by asking prominent citizens mainly of the white race for resolution to unsolved black problems. As a result of First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt's contribution to the popular column "If I Were a Negro", the copies sold doubled overnight. Johnson went on to create other magazines aimed at an African-American readership, including
Ebony (founded in 1945) and
Jet (founded in 1951). As a result of the publication of these two magazines, the circulation of
The Negro Digest declined. According to a
New York Times article, it soon became unprofitable and ceased publication in 1951.
Rebirth and termination After the failure of the magazine in 1951, Johnson, alongside
Hoyt W. Fuller, revived the magazine and gave it a different spin in the early 1960s. In 1970, the periodical was renamed
Black World to more accurately reflect the range of its audience, which extended to Africa and much of the
African diaspora.
Black World reflected Fuller's concerns with politics, social action, the spiritual and economic health of the black world, as well as a broad view of artistic expression. Despite its audience, the magazine was open to any ideas and opinions. By 1970, a typical issue contained approximately eight articles, a couple of short stories, poems, and a section called "Perspectives", which was a collection of cultural information prepared by Fuller. A short reflective essay by Fuller frequently occupied the back cover. In 1976,
Black World was abruptly terminated by the publisher, occasioning widespread protest in the Black Arts community. ==Impact==