Why magazines will always have a place on my shelf
On discovering the world between the pages of magazines
I grew up in a house full of magazines; stacks of glossy covers were neatly piled in the wicker basket beside the couch in our living room and my personal stash was hoarded underneath my bed. Like many pre-teen and teenage girls of that time, the walls of mine and my sister’s rooms were plastered with the faces of celebrity heartthrobs of the moment — Usher, D’Angelo, Tupac and more — pulled from our collection of magazines.
Possibly, one of my earliest memories of creating a fortress of solitude was when I would spend hours in my room reading the most recent glossies that I convinced my mom to buy me. A space of refuge and meditation, I discovered a world beyond the parameters of the suburban city I grew up in. Between the pages of magazines, I learned about myself and others.
YM, Seventeen, Cosmo Girl, Word Up and Right On — were staples for my prepubescent years. I could spend hours reading about celebrities, learning beauty tricks and taking quizzes to decipher if my current crush was “crushing back”. Then throughout high school and into my university days, my selection of favourite magazines changed. The Source and XXL kept me connected to my other love, which is music and specifically hip hop. Elle, Fashion, Flare, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar sent me to a fantasy world of couture gowns and supermodels and fulfilled my fantasies of being an editor with the coveted front-row seat at the top shows in Paris. While Essence, Honey, Suede and Vibe Vixen were the sister friends I turned to for advice and to feel seen. Pages I would pour into to get inspired, learn and better understand my magic. Every word, every article and every model so powerfully reflected back to me the beauty, grace and strength of Black women.
The only way I felt that I could pay it forward to the magazines that gave me so much over the years was to become the head of one. When I was younger, I dreamed of being the Editor-in-Chief of one of these colourful titles. Unfortunately, so many of my favourite publications have now turned to digital and most are no longer in circulation.
There is something about holding a print copy of the work that a team of people poured hours into - curating every detail from font choice to photography for a shoot, then printing it off and shipping it around the world for readers like me to enjoy is something that I will forever cherish. Today, my old magazines are like pieces of iconic art that I still turn to when I feel nostalgic and am looking for inspiration.
