Black Enterprise Lays Off Its Freelance Writers

By Erick Johnson

Black Enterprise, a 56-year-old publication that profiles Black business leaders, entrepreneurship, and wealth management, terminated all contracts of its 15 freelance writers, leaving only editors to put out the digital publication, according to Richard Prince’s Journal-isms.

Media pundits say the move reflects broader challenges in declining advertising revenue, the shift from print to digital, and cost-cutting pressures that have hit legacy news outlets hard, especially Black publications.

Black Enterprise was founded in 1970 by Earl Graves, Sr. 

In conceiving Black Enterprise, Graves recognized that major publications targeted Black audiences with sections that focused on fashion and beauty. He created Black Enterprise to educate readers in business and economic development, and to inspire them to thrive professionally.

According to Black Enterprise, Graves managed to obtain a $250,000 loan from Chase Manhattan Bank to create Black Enterprise. The magazine became profitable in 10 months — enabling Graves to repay the loan to the major financial institution.  

The first issue was published In August 1970. The initial Board of Advisors included Shirley Chisholm, John Lewis, and Julian Bond.

During Black Enterprise’s early years, Graves’ wife, Barbara served in many editorial roles, according to an article in the Atlanta Voice.

In 1973, Black Enterprise published its first annual list of the largest African American-owned companies in the country called “B.E. 100s.” The list has made Black Enterprise’s June Issue one of the most anticipated publications of the year.

Many individuals, such as Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), have been profiled multiple times throughout their careers. Black Enterprise has since produced other notable lists such as the Most Powerful Women in Business, Entrepreneurial All Stars, and the Top 40 (Business Leaders) Under 40. Throughout his tenure, Graves often wrote editorials that focused on a range of issues, from health care as a fundamental right for all Americans, to the need for Black representation in corporate boardrooms.

Born in 1935 to Earl Godwin and Winifred Sealy Graves, Earl Graves, Sr. was raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York. After receiving a B.A. in economics from Morgan State University. He served two years in the Army, followed by a three year stint as Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s administrative assistant. After Kennedy’s assassination, Graves entered the business arena, where he was to realize unprecedented success.

With his wife Barbara, Graves grew Black Enterprise into one of the nation’s most successful and respected magazines.

Graves viewed as a friend and mentor Ebony and Jet Founder John H. Johnson. Graves spoke at Johnson’s funeral in Chicago in 2005.

In 2020, Black Enterprise fully transitioned from a monthly print publication to digital on its 50th Anniversary. That year,

Graves died after a long battle with Alzheimers.  His wife Barbara passed away in 2012.

Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., son of the founder who graduated with a bachelor degree from Yale and a MBA degrees from Harvard, became president and COO of Black Enterprise in 1998, after joining the company in 1988. He was named CEO in 2006.