Message: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

The front cover features a black and white photo of an African American man in a jail cell. He is standing behind bars with his hands gripped around the bars in front of him. He is wearing a white, long-sleeve, button down shirt and a tie. There is another man in the background, standing behind his proper right shoulder.

At the top of the magazine there is a rectangle with vertical stripes in red and orange. There are headlines typed in yellow. Below, there is a thin grey rectangle that reads [NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2015] in white. Below the rectangle, and partially going over the man's face, it reads [MESSAGE] in large white letters.

Headlines on the proper right side of the magazine include [Weight Of/INJUSTICE/Coming to terms with/America's Past] and [The/HONOR of/Healing/Toward a fix for the/Troubled Black Heart], typed in various sizes and colors. In the proper right bottom corner there is a white box with black text, including a barcode. In the proper bottom left corner there is an orange plus sign inside of a red circle next to the text [THE EXPERIENCE/SPECTATOR].

The back of the magazine is white and has an advertisement on the back. There is a red headline that reads [THANKS FOR GIVING!]. There is a fruit basket pictured along with a phone number, the logo for "Edible Arrangements" and other information.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2015
• Printed by: Message, American, founded 1898
• Subject of: Million Man March, American, founded 1995
• Type: magazines (periodicals)
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 10 1/2 × 8 in. (26.7 × 20.3 cm)
• Place collected: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Black Press
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Justice
• Topic: Local and regional
• Topic: Mass media
• Topic: Men
• Topic: Race relations
• Object number: 2015.251.14.22
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © 2017 MESSAGE MAGAZINE Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.