Ebony unveiled a series of covers for the September issue of the magazine, paying tribute to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and slamming the Tea Party as it denounced any potential controversy surrounding the photos.
The magazine debuted its “special edition” September issue, which features prominent African-American men and their sons — all donning hoodies — with the banner “We Are Trayvon” splayed across them. The issue includes four different cover photos, the first featuring Martin’s brother and his parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. The other three spotlight actor Boris Kodjoe and his son, Miami Heat star Dwayne Wade and his two sons, and director Spike Lee and his son.
But Ebony, backed by Johnson Publishing Company, has quickly come under fire for its covers following their reveal. After several conservatives sites hit back against the magazine, it lambasted the Tea Party on Twitter in a “I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I” response.
We have so many Tea Party readers and followers. To lose all zero of them due to our September cover would be devastating.
— EBONY (@EBONYMag) August 7, 2013
The issue includes in-depth coverage of the trial, which ended in the acquittal of George Zimmerman — the man accused of shooting and killing Martin last year — and spurned mass protests nationwide urging “Justice for Trayvon.” The article also calls for the repeal of “Stand Your Ground” laws, which has been touted by Attorney General Eric Holder and President Barack Obama.
“It’s hard to believe that it was only 18 months ago that we lost Trayvon Martin. In the explosive time since that fateful night, February 26, 2012, generations of Black America have come to terms with the fact that we live in a country that often eats its young—our young,” the magazine’s announcement about the covers stated.
“…African-Americans across the country clenched their hearts at the news of Zimmerman’s acquittal. Our president — a man who could have been Trayvon’s father — spoke plainly about the pain of racial profiling and the injustices faced by Black males in this country.What now? What now?” it continued.
Kodjoe, Wade, Lee and their sons are all wearing gray hoodies in their cover photos — an article of clothing that has become symbolic of the case — like Martin wore the night he was killed. Photos of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were doctored to include a sweatshirt with a hood pulled over the civil rights leader’s head, and the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture even said the hoodie would be displayed in the museum.
