The first and only digital collection of magazines created for Black audiences in Africa from 1937 to 1973.
Overview
Black South African Magazines brings together over 50,000 pages of extremely rare, yet historically significant magazines, written and targeted specifically for Black African audiences. Developed in partnership with Sabinet, the materials have been sourced from African libraries. Despite their broad cultural and historical value, the magazines exist in just a few physical locations and have not been digitized before.
Much of the content was created by a new generation of Black journalists, writers and artists. The magazines were hugely popular, and were packed with investigative journalism, photography, fiction, reviews, biographies, fashion, lifestyle, advertisements, and more. Many of them were syndicated across the continent and contained content specifically developed for the African English-speaking world, so they provide a view of Black society across all of Africa.
The database has been developed in collaboration with Sabinet, a leading publisher of African materials for libraries, with digitization taking place in Africa.
Zonk Magazine, March 1959
Drum Magazine, February 1955
Coverage
Spanning four decades of turbulence and transformation, the writings cover major historical events, such as the Defiance Campaign, and prominent figures like Winnie Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah, and Steve Biko.
A focal point of the collection, Drum Magazine, was once the most widely read magazine in Africa. Its journalists influenced political outcomes and are credited with changing the way Black South Africans were represented in society. The women’s magazines escaped the scrutiny of the apartheid government at times when several others were shut down and their journalists jailed.
Researchers and students in history, political science, Africana studies, culture, gender, education, and media studies will discover materials that have almost never been seen outside Africa.
Access
For more information or to request a trial please contact us at information@coherentdigital.net. African institutions please contact Sabinet directly at info@sabinet.co.za
Also on the Africa Commons platform.
Related collections:
