The Family Factor: Earl G. Graves Sr.’s Legacy as Publisher of Black Enterprise

Abstract:While much has been written about Ebony, Essence, and other Black-oriented publications, little has been established on the Black family as depicted in the business-oriented publication Black Enterprise, which has been in operation for more than a half century. Tenets of sustainable family business theory are useful in understanding the ideas and innovations of Earl G. Graves Sr., who founded Black Enterprise magazine and transformed it into one of the nation’s top Black-owned and Black-operated media companies. This study focuses on twenty-eight of Graves’s Publisher’s Page columns printed between 1970 and 2015 that showcase the role of the Black family, particularly in the development of successful business enterprises.