URBAN LIVING MAGAZINE: More Than Entertainment

Today we're joined in the newsstand by Urban Living Magazine, an ambitious bimonthly published in Nashville, TN. It's grown in its two years from a local magazine to one aiming to be a national voice in the black community. A significant percentage of the black-oriented publications that have been created over the past few years focus almost exclusively on rap music and other forms of entertainment, but Urban Living co-owner David Keary has a broader goal for his baby: to present information and opinions about politics, drug use, education and other matters of interest to the urban black community―as well as entertainment news, interviews and profiles. He writes in the opening editorial in the October-November issue, just received here, "I am proud to have created an option for the urban culture to enlighten and educate themselves, not only on what they want to know, but what they need to know." The issue in hand reflects his vision: there's an article that argues that the Hurricane Katrina flood in New Orleans shows that race is a factor in who survives a national disaster, another about an alarming increase in HIV infections among black male college students in North Carolina, tips on saving gas and getting started in the stock market, an indictment of big-time college sports for its exploitation of student athletes, and a look at steroid use among high school athletes. There are also a number of entertainment profiles, including gospel music mogul Alvin Williams, hip-hop music executive Kevin Liles (the cover story), BET host Julissa Bermudez and recording artist Teairra Mari. The latter two are also featured in the new issue of Un Chin, reviewed here Tuesday; those young ladies (and their press agents) sure do get around! One major bone I have to pick with Urban Living is its unsigned opinion pieces. I couldn't find any bylines in the issue, aside from David Keary's previously quoted editorial, and that's okay if it's a story about saving for college or even one on hot new fashions. But when you come across an article like the one titled "Are White Republicans Ready for Black Republicans?" and read a sentence such as "Spiritually, I am sick and tired of the far left dividing and conquering America via our social, economic and ethnic differences," I sure as heck want to know who "I" is. My confusion mounted because in the previous article―the one on Hurricane Katrina, and also not bylined―the publication Socialist Worker was quoted as an authoritative source (sounds like that doggone not-to-be-trusted far left to me). An annual subscription to Urban Living Magazine (six issues) is $9.95 from the publisher; you can get a sample copy from us for $2.59.