This year marks the 30th anniversary for Pride Magazine, a bimonthly publication that focuses on the Charlotte region's African American community. It was originally owned by The Charlotte Observer before Dee Dixon purchased it from the paper in 2001. As newspapers and magazines have folded or gone to internet-only publications, Pride Magazine has maintained a print presence under Dixon’s leadership. WFAE’s Gwendolyn Glenn spoke to Dixon about the magazine’s past and its future.
Listen to their conversation at the link above.Highlights from the interview
How the magazine survived the pandemic: “We survived, I think, because of the people in Charlotte, because of corporations, because of being able to take advantage of a couple of grants. Quite honestly, I was very disturbed and depressed initially when COVID or the pandemic hit … But corporations stepped up. I think we were going also through the George Floyd murder, and so a lot of emphasis was on racial equity. So certainly being a Black magazine helped us because we were positioned to deal with those issues.”
On purchasing the magazine from the Charlotte Observer: “After much trepidation and fear and lying on the floor crying out to God "help me, what should I do?" The light came on and I said, ‘OK, I'll purchase it from you and go from there.' You know, what could I lose? I could just start over again if I couldn't make it happen because, in reality, I had no idea in my lifetime of becoming an entrepreneur."
On how she envisions the magazine’s future: “I don't really operate with a permanent vision. You know, you have to have flexibility.
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