Newark has the reputation of being one of the worst cities in New Jersey. There is always bad news of people not being able to park their cars on Newark streets. The Bloods and the Crips are always terrorizing Broad and Market streets downtown. With news like this, it makes anyone just want to leave this city. A lot of people bash the city, but few do anything to help it.
Two people trying to bring Newark into a positive light are college students Nafeesah Allen and Ana Hudson. Nafeesah Allen is the editor-in-chief of Exist magazine and goes to Barnard College. Ana Hudson is a contributor and a student in Essex County College. I interviewed Ana and Nafeesah about Exist.
Sarah Vega: What is Exist magazine about?
Nafeesah Allen: Exist is a regional youth magazine that focuses on representing the current ways of life within the communities of northern New Jersey, as well as educating the youth on issues that are pressing to their empowerment, health and livelihood.
SV: What is the purpose of the magazine? Is it to inspire or influence any particular gender?
NA: More than anything it is supposed to act as a media source that represents people who all too often look outside for guidance. This is a complex statement, but, particularly being from New Jersey, I know we tend to get fed New York’s news, trends and ideas because we are regarded as being New York City’s annex, which we are not.
So, Exist serves to represent the things that are happening in our communities on a local and grassroots level. Youth tend to look for guidance from media sources that are increasingly showing that they do not keep the interest of that demographic in mind.
SV: Why did you decide to put out this type of magazine?
NA: I decided to start it because I’d spent so much time out of New Jersey that I had a genuine appreciation for it—independent of New Jersey’s proximity to New York or any other factor that would take away from its uniqueness and individual style. So, I wanted to find a forum to express that. Also, I recognized that there were many small businesses, upcoming artists, etc, that had no collective literary space to advertise, get press coverage and/or network in reference to their particular ventures. There were many factors involved, but these were the main issues.
SV: What audience are you trying to capture?
Ana Hudson: It’s the same as what genre we are trying to inspire. The audience is vast; we are trying to reach the 15-year-old pop lover to the 45-year-old Marvin Gaye fan. To be able to reach this 30-year time span can help break all barriers and be accepted by all no matter what age, race or religion. This is a magazine to form the mind, to inspire the soul and spark the imagination.
SV: Explain the process of the magazine.
AH: The process of the magazine was all insight from the editor [Nafeesah Allen]. She had her own voice and goal as to how she would express her ideas about Newark and the underground and the creative arts of the city. She wanted to highlight events from such artists as the Lyrical Combats, at the African Globe Theater next to Symphony Hall, to Jerry Gant.
SV: OK, but how do you go about printing the magazine?
AH: The process of finding a publisher, printing shop and a sponsor was a journey all its own. It wasn’t easy. Companies are hesitant to invest in a nonprofit project, especially when they are not sure of its [project’s] future. They are Fortune 500–type companies with billions of dollars; I, too would be cautious about where my money goes. Nonetheless, there were a few self-owned companies like hair shops and organizations that saw the magazine and took the risk to show support. We have great gratitude toward them.
SV: When did the magazine finally launch?
AH: From all our scrambling and networking we had gotten enough to launch the magazine in September 2003. Still, networking and going on the streets to spread the word about Exist was endless. As of 2004, our hard work continues in hopes that this small venture in our eyes can turn into a grand Picasso for all to experience.
SV: Whoa! Picasso! Good one. Nafeesah, how is the magazine circulated?
NA: We have distributors: Buy Wise Choice at 412 Springfield Ave. in Newark, Afrakuts in Orange at 164 Scotland Rd., Serengeti Plains at 615 Bloomfield Ave. in Montclair and Jerry Gantalism at 31 Central Ave. in Newark. We also have about 150-plus subscribers. Info about how to contact me is online. We accept checks and money orders made payable to Exist Magazine. The first issue is $3, and all subsequent issues are $4 [Exist Magazine, P.O. BOX 6404, Newark, New Jersey 07106].
SV: Cheap plug, Feesah. How do you go about choosing models and cover stories for the magazine?
NA: Often I talk it over with some of the head writers. Sometimes they come to the table with ideas we are working on, and we discuss how things fit with the tone of the magazine as well as the page spacing. But I usually have a ton of ideas that I spit out to people and then see who can take what and which are at all feasible. Some of the ideas are a lot harder to write about. We never really have cover stories so much as features. As for the models, that is a lot less mysterious. We meet and greet people at events we go to, and we try to network with people to see if they would be interested in modeling for us in the future. Models are not really expected to look a certain way. Then, depending the size of the clothing that we have available, we pair the available sizes with the models. The photographer, the artistic director and I sit down and see who is available when.
SV: What are the models representing for the magazine? What is the message behind the creative productions?
NA: The models are people from New Jersey. The snapshots are of people who we just met randomly and thought they were representative of what most people look like from here. Larger magazines have larger audiences to reach. We don’t. We can take the time to use those spaces to show people rather than to show clothing. A lot of magazines have to do that for advertising.
SV: How are the staff and contributors important to the magazine? Why were they chosen to be in the “family” of Exist?
NA: For the most part, all the folks involved were friends of mine or friends of friends who saw the magazine and believed in it as much as I did. That is where the family part comes in. Most of the staff do not know each other. It can be awkward sometimes, but they have something in common, even if they don’t know it. We have a unique group of people who come to this project with a lot to offer and the energy to present it. I am eternally grateful to them because they are students, they are struggling, they don’t get paid, and yet they are still involved. That is the family to me.
SV: How can this magazine affect Newark and all around?
NA: I just hope it can be an impetus for people to look in the mirror and see themselves for what they are. I am starting with Newark because it’s home and it always will be. But that is a global issue. We are just a small microcosm of what is happening throughout the world.
SV: Well, thanks, girls, for the interview.
While people are busy being scared of Newark, people like Nafeesah and Ana are working hard to make it better. As Nafeesah would say, "In the end, there’s always some good that comes out of the bad situations. You follow?" Yes, we do follow.
Sarah Vega conducted this interview in the summer of 2004 for Bruce Reynolds’ magazine writing class.
