''BLK'' was a monthly American

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

, similar in format to ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' and '' The Advocate'', which targeted its coverage of people, events and issues to African-American

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

readers. Published in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, the magazine was initially distributed free to local

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establishments frequented by lesbians and gay men, but distribution rapidly expanded to nearly all LGBT venues in

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

. Its early coverage of the local black LGBT scene soon enlarged to a nationwide and international focus, and eventually to national and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

distribution. Sub-titled "The National Black Lesbian and Gay Newsmagazine", with the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

"where the news is colored on purpose", ''BLK'' (always capitalized) took its name from the standard abbreviation used in U.S.

personal ad A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adve ...

s for "black", i.e. a person of

sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

racial descent.

History

Alan Bell, an African-American graphic designer who had published '' Gaysweek'' for three years in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

during the late 1970s, was urged to start a news periodical for black lesbians and gay men by black LGBT AIDS activists such as

Phill Wilson Phill Wilson is an American activist who founded the Black AIDS Institute in 1999, and served as its CEO, and is a prominent African-American HIV/AIDS activist. Career Phill Wilson's career in activism started after he and his partner, Chris ...

. But at first he resisted renewing a commitment to professional publishing. Bell had, however, founded Black Jack, a black gay men's

safer sex In cryptography, SAFER (Secure And Fast Encryption Routine) is the name of a family of block ciphers designed primarily by James Massey (one of the designers of IDEA) on behalf of Cylink Corporation. The early SAFER K and SAFER SK designs share t ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

, in

. It was not long before the dearth of reliable information in print about African-American LGBTs and about the

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

crisis among them evoked his efforts to fill an unmet need. Eventually he concluded that the natural next step from the eight-page newsletter he found himself producing monthly for members of Black Jack was expansion, and ''BLK'' was born. Bell set out to establish ''BLK'' as a regular, predominantly

hard news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

alternative to the infotainment-oriented publications that intermittently appeared in America's black gay communities. Bell chose the magazine's name to adhere to a tradition among national African-American publications of employing racially indicative titles (e.g., ''

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'', '' Jet'',

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, ''

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''). Initially pronounced as is the word "black", use of the initials in spoken English gradually became customary. Beginning as a 16-page black-and-white newsprint throwaway in 1988, it had grown to 40 pages with glossy color covers, paid circulation, and national product advertising by the time it ceased publication in mid-1994.

Content and coverage

Although the first issue had a

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cover (a muscular black man clad only in the traditional

Santa Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

's hat and whiskers, shown with the magazine's coyly-placed

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

), subsequent covers usually pictured a prominent African-American LGBT featured in the "BLK Interview" or photographically illustrated a theme of the month. Among those interviewed were singer Patti LaBelle (August 1990);

porn Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

star Randy Cochran (March 1989); poet

Audre Lorde Audre Lorde (; born Audrey Geraldine Lorde; February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) was an American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, and civil rights activist. She was a self-described "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet," wh ...

(April 1989); Carl Bean, founder of the Minority AIDS Project and of the Unity Fellowship Church (July 1989), Black AIDS Institute founder

(October 1990); Amassi and BMX founder

Cleo Manago Cleo Manago (born September 21, 1960) is an African American activist and social architect who coined the term ''same gender loving''Editors: Aggleton, Peter; Parker, Richard''Routledge Handbook of Sexuality, Health and Rights'' Routledge, 2010, p ...

(March 1990); documentary-maker

Marlon Riggs Marlon Troy Riggs (February 3, 1957 – April 5, 1994) was a Black gay filmmaker, educator, poet, and activist. He produced, wrote, and directed several documentary films, including '' Ethnic Notions'', ''Tongues Untied'', '' Color Adjustment'' ...

(April 1990); and Marjorie Hill, CEO of

Gay Men's Health Crisis The GMHC (formerly Gay Men's Health Crisis) is a New York City–based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization whose mission statement is to "end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all affected." His ...

(August 1990).

Complete list of cover stories

Sister publications

The company that published ''BLK'' also published several other titles directed to the black LGBT community including ''Blackfire'', an erotic magazine for men; ''Black Lace'', an erotic magazine for women; ''Kuumba'', a co-sexual poetry journal; ''Black Dates'', a calendar of events for Southern California and ''The BLK Guide to Southern California for Black People in the Life''. In 1999, the company acquired ''Mentor'', a gay non-black publication focusing on (legal, adult) intergenerational relationships. ''Blackfire'' and ''Kuumba'' remain in publication.

External links

Alan Bell Collection, African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library

References