ARTS & CULTURE
CARVING A SPACE FOR BLACK VOICES
F
or a curious Tufts student armed with the power of technology and social media, there are always layers of this hallowed institution left to explore. This student might have happened across an Instagram story posted to the account @tufts.onyx calling for submissions of visual art and creative writing. Clicking on their Linktree leads the viewer to a sign up sheet for an open mic night in collaboration with the Pan-Afrikan Alliance. There are a number of niche publications out there, albeit unknown to a large number of the student body. These underground publications are putting out quality journalism and catering to a diverse set of interests every semester. If one were to continue scrolling through their page, they would find that Onyx, a student-run arts and literary magazine for the Black community with roots spanning decades, was just revived. Tracing this history through the digitized editions preserved in Tufts Archives sheds insight on what makes this magazine so special. According to an editor’s note by Margot Mosley, written in the magazine’s inaugural issue in 1984, “the purpose of Onyx, the magazine, is to expose the power and the beauty of black expression in its purest literary form.” The form that this takes has been diverse, showcasing everything from poetry and personal narratives to art and photographs. She also stressed the importance of a magazine centered on Black voices, which are often overlooked at a predominately white institution like Tufts. Since then, Onyx has become a TCU-recognized club and thus an established campus organization. Although recent years have seen Black students turning to14 TUFTS OBSERVER MAY 2, 2022
By Isabel Genn
wards alternative platforms to showcase their creativity, the need for a cohesive space dedicated to amplifying these voices has not diminished. In Mosley’s last publication as editor-in-chief in 1987, she explained that, while the aim of the first edition was to engage white members of the Tufts community directly about the
experiences of Black Tufts students, the 1987 edition witnessed the magazine pivoting toward a more internal focus. “The current edition reveals how we, the Black community at Tufts, have converted our anger, frustration, and pain into positive energy which we have redirected and channeled into our community in order to give us motivation and strength for our continued struggle. We no longer feel compelled to define ourselves to the rest of the world, instead, we
have become more concerned with communication and unity within our own community so that we can cultivate our strength,” Mosley wrote. The magazine partnered with and was supported by a number of other campus organizations in this effort, notably the Africana Center, the Office of Equal Opportunity, and the Pan-Afrikan Alliance. In 1997, Onyx, which had traditionally been a yearly publication, put out its first fall issue, indicating that the demand for a space for Black art at Tufts remained high. Specialized themes, like the arts of the African Diaspora, were explored starting in Fall 1997 and subsequent releases. The Fall 1997 edition also marked the establishment of the Editor’s Choice Award, which was an award selected by the art and literary selection committees for exemplary pieces in each category as a way of highlighting and celebrating students. And yet, Onyx quietly faded from publication with its last issue in the archives appearing on its 25th anniversary in spring 2009. In this special edition, editor-in-chief Dom Johnson wrote, “I would love to say that the Black population of Tufts no longer has a need to air out their artistic abilities… but we all know as long as there is a Tufts University there will always be complaining from people of color on this campus (let’s not play ourselves!).” In the past 10 years, the need to fill this gap has lurked under the surface, waiting to be revitalized. Enter Des Porte, a senior and the current editor-in-chief of Onyx and the force behind the publication’s return to print this spring. They described their serendipitous discovery of the magazine’s existence in their DESIGN BY INES WANG, ART COURTESY OF ONYX MAGAZINE
