The Best of Emerge Magazine [Paperback]

George Curry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 29, 2003

The 1990s. African Americans achieved more influence–and faced more explosive issues–than ever before. One word captured those times. One magazine expressed them. Emerge.

In those ten years, with an impressive circulation of 170,000 and more than forty national awards to its credit, Emerge became a serious part of the American mainstream. Time hailed its “uncompromising voice.” The Washington Post declared that Emerge “gets better with each issue.” Then, after nearly a decade, Emerge magazine closed its doors. Now, for the first time, here’s a collection of the finest articles from a publication that changed the face of African American news.

From the Clarence Thomas nomination to the Bill Clinton impeachment . . . from the life of Louis Farrakhan to the death of Betty Shabazz . . . from reparations for slavery to the rise of blacks on Wall Street . . . the most important people, topics, and turning points of this remarkable period are featured in incisive articles by first-rate writers.

Emerge may have ended with the millennium, but–as this incomparable volume proves–the quality of its coverage is still unequaled, the extent of its impact still emerging. Stirring tribute, uncanny time capsule, riveting read–The Best of Emerge Magazine is also the best of American journalism.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This whopper of an anthology perfectly captures black life and culture as offered through Emerge. Launched in 1989, the award-winning magazine provided an animated, informative alternative to mass media until its demise in June 2000. This retrospective volume is journalism at its best: probing, controversial and serious. In loose juxtaposition, American Society of Magazine Editors president Curry presents (with more than 100 columns) a mosaic of issues that resonate in the black community. A popular magazine written in a popular style, Emerge was radical in its treatment of the black condition as the human condition. Naturally, famous writers appear, including Dick Gregory, Walter Mosley, Clarence Thomas and Maxine Waters. So, too, do newsworthy major events, lest readers forget the loss of Emmet Till (lynching) or Ron Brown (airplane crash). Besides terrific writing and coverage of important news, though, Emerge had unusual breadth. It dipped into biblical scholarship, environmental issues, for-profit prisons, the Internet, the brokering of businesses and medical research. It taunted double standards: the targeting of black congressmen, genocide in Rwanda. Its coverage stretched around the world, to Kosovo, Brazil, Cuba and Japan. It kept an eye close to home, too, taking in radio talk-show hosts, Miss Apollo and churchwomen. Emerge knew how to laugh at strategies for getting away from long awards dinners. Although Emerge was devoted unequivocally to African-Americans, Curry's vision and editorship of this book will instruct, provoke and sometimes entertain or inspire any reader.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Emerge magazine earned widespread respect among African American readers for its biting social commentary and willingness to explore controversial topics of the 1990s. Curry, editor-in-chief from 1993 until the last issue in June 2000, offers a collection of more than 100 articles from the award-winning magazine on a range of topics from affirmative action to the Million Man March to racism on the Internet. The contributors include Nelson George, Les Payne, Thulani Davis, Jill Nelson, and Tananarive Due. The collection includes an interview with Emmett Till's mother on the fortieth anniversary of her son's murder; a profile highlighting the disproportionately tough mandatory sentencing for drug convictions handed to black youth; coverage of the death of Malcolm X's widow in a fire set by her troubled grandson; and commentary on the contrast in media coverage of atrocities in Kosovo versus Rwanda. The collection also includes profiles of such prominent figures as Jesse Jackson and Clarence Thomas. Emerge readers who have missed the lively magazine and readers interested in race and social issues will enjoy this collection. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 688 pages
• Publisher: One World/Ballantine; 1 edition (July 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345462289
• ISBN-13: 978-0345462282
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #352,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bygone Journalism Era Brought Back to Life, August 10, 2003

By 

Dera R Williams (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Emerge Magazine (Paperback)

Journalist/Editor George E. Curry has resurrected the magnificent, hard-hitting, journalistic stories that made the now defunct Emerge Magazine the premier feature news publication in the 1990s. In this 660 + page volume, we are graced with The Best of Emerge Magazine edited by Curry. It is a work of brilliance to combine these stories in one work to be read at the readers' convenience and pleasure. It is also a vital, historical document worthy of being filed with the Schomburg Institute.

The exposes are prolific, provocative and well-written. Who can forget "Kemba's Nightmare," the young college student who got caught in a drug dealer's web? She was sentenced to thirty years in jail, where she gave birth to her son and tore at the heartstrings of countless African Americans, especially middle-class parents, who were reminded "There but for the grace of God, that could be my child." Reported in three parts over several years, Kemba was pardoned by President Clinton just before he left the White House in 2000. Ralph Wiley's insightful essay in 1989 about black athletic superiority is now a classic as is Lee A. Daniels' stunning article, "Targeting Black Boys for Failure." Jill Nelson's story "Amazing Grace" examines the plight of Deborah Lyons, wife of the dishonored president of the National Baptist Convention. Nelson expounds on the subservient role Sister Lyons and other women take in the wake of male religious leaders who continually humiliate and shame their loved ones.

"Driving While Black" and "Thinking While Black" are among other stimulating articles, as well as "Rape of a Spelman Coed" which made us look hard at the issue of acquaintance/date rape in the black community and our attitudes about it. Profiles of Dick Gregory, Johnnie Cochran, Farrakhan, Betty Shabazz, Elizabeth Catlett and Tom Joyner captured the essence of who's who in diverse black America. And did we not look forward to "Friend Fire", the witty column written by Lauren Adams Deleon, which looked at the stupid, crazy, bizarre, but true antics of our folk? There are a great many more great stories, but what remains with me to this day is the MasterCard moment of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, posed as a lawn jockey on the cover of one of the most controversial issues of the publication, and the accompanying article written by Curry himself. Priceless indeed.

This reviewer is of the mind that such controversial issues as the Thomas piece, among others, led to the Emerge's demise, which is contentious in itself. It seems everybody does not agree with putting our dirty laundry out for all the world to view. Loquacious, innovative and groundbreaking, this is the meat of journalistic reporting. I was disappointed when the magazine ceased publication and have not found another quite to my satisfaction to replace it. I say there should be a campaign to bring back Emerge Magazine and I would gladly volunteer as the chairperson. Bring back Emerge!

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Emerge Magazine, February 24, 2008

By 

Michelle R. Fuller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Emerge Magazine (Paperback)

I recommend this book. People who fondly remember Emerge magazine need to purchase this anthology. We lack incisive reporting from real journalists. I'm tired of the fawning over celebrities with dubious talent, overemphasis on material possessions, and the dumbing down of our magazines like Ebony, Jet, and our daily newspapers. The Best of Emerge anthology brings home the high standrds of in depth investigative reporting.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Memorable Stories From " The Best Of Emerge", January 7, 2007

By 

Queen Of Books "Viva La Diva" (Hampton Rds Va) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Emerge Magazine (Paperback)

I Was Really Caught Up Reading This Book,Because Before This Publication Folded A Few Years Ago, I Was A Subscriber For Many Years. Personally I Feel That This magazine Was One Of A Kind. There Were Many Stories That I Enjoyed Ready, Such As One That I Recall The Story About A College Student From Hampton University, Kimba Smith, That Was Involved With A Drug Dealer. She Ended Up Spending Time In A Federal Prison, But Was later Pardon By Bill Clinton. Thanks For "The Best Of Emerge" It May Be Gone, But Its NOT forgotten.