YSB, an acronym for Young Sisters and Brothers, was an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

monthly lifestyle magazine, in print publication from 1991 until 1996. The magazine was founded by Robert L. Johnson as a subsidiary of

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

. It was the first national African American lifestyle magazine specifically for teenagers age 13 to 19. It was designed to build teenagers self-esteem, and marketed for the " hip-hop generation".

History

YSB debuted the first issue in September 1991. The magazine offered news stories on music, fashion, as well as then-current issues facing teens including substance abuse and

HIV/AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ...

. BET's publishing division also published Emerge magazine, BET Weekend, and Heart & Soul magazine. Contributors to the magazine included Kenji Jasper (journalist),

Jelani Cobb William Jelani Cobb (born August 21, 1969)
''Contemporary Black Biography''. Gale, 2005, updated January 4, 2007. Vi ...

(journalist), Frank Dexter Brown (editor),

Fo Wilson Folayemi "Fo" Debra Wilson is an American Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary artist, designer, and academic administrator. Her practice includes work as a furniture designer and maker, installation artist, muralist, and graphic designer. Wils ...

(also known as Folayemi Wilson; creative director), and Lance Pettiford (creative director). Shortly before the last issue in October 1996, BET and

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

joined efforts to publish the print magazine online, and at the time only 11% of African American households had access to the internet at home (compared to 29% of white households at this same time). The magazine had been operating at an annual loss of almost $2 million prior to closure.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:YSB African-American magazines Monthly magazines published in the United States News magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1991 Magazines disestablished in 1996 Magazines published in Washington, D.C.

History

See also

References