BMF Unveils Revamped Magazine

The Harvard Black Men’s Forum (BMF) celebrated the launch of the revamped Remix magazine last night in Ticknor Lounge. Students flipped through the pages of the newly unveiled full-color glossy while munching on cheese and crackers and listening to live jazz.

The magazine, which began as a black-and-white newsletter-style publication, has been enhanced and redesigned under the direction of David A. Williams ’07, the magazine’s editor-in-chief and the publications chair of BMF.

The original Remix was founded in 2002 to create a forum for open discussion on issues pertinent to black men at Harvard, BMF President Tracy “Ty” Moore ’06 said.

“The old Remix wasn’t properly formatted, wasn’t neat, [and] didn’t look like a real magazine. It was in its nascent stages of development,” said Michael P. Anderson ’08, the social chair of BMF. The publication also did not circulate on campus beyond the membership of BMF.

“Most of black history has been an oral history. We want to document our history in a literate form for everyone to read and enjoy,” Anderson said, reflecting on his aspirations for Remix magazine.

The main financial force behind the magazine’s makeover into a 35-page full-scale publication was advertisement sales, which the old Remix lacked.

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71, who stopped by the festivities, said that the administration did not have any part in re-creating the magazine.

Topics covered in the new Remix “run the gamut...from prison advocacy to working on Wall Street, from gang violence to fashion,” Anderson said.

Williams, who is currently studying abroad in Brazil and could not be reached for comment, wrote in the magazine that it seeks to “provide a fresh perspective; one conversant with the dynamism of urban culture and lifestyle, yet firmly grounded in a tradition of critical academic and intellectual dialogue.”

BMF member W. Bilal Belardo ’08 said that the magazine serves as “a way to show black people’s involvement on campus.” He added that the BMF hopes eventual wider distribution of Remix will serve as a guide to black youth.

“We want to show that you don’t have to want to be a rapper or basketball player,” Belardo said.

Sharlene M. Brown ’08, one of the incoming editors-in-chief, said that the next step for Remix is to distribute to other colleges across the nation, first focusing on other Ivy League schools and historically black colleges. The current issue of Remix is “definitely geared more for the Harvard black community and especially more for males, but we are looking to diversify in terms of audience and gender,” Brown said. Anderson added that the BMF also hopes to eventually reach a high school audience with the magazine.

Harvard Black Alumni Society Student Affairs Chair Victoria Shannon ’03, who is also a student at Harvard Law School, commented that the magazine has “a good mix of things that make you think, things that make you laugh, and things that make you want to change the world.”

The current issue features a piece on Hurricane Katrina and the political response that followed, written by BMF Vice-President Colleston A. Morgan Jr. ’07.

“It’s something that’s been on my mind the entire semester. We don’t want to forget what happened, in terms of race, class, and poverty,” Morgan said yesterday.