Black writers whose work as featured in Players includes: Amiri Baraka, Alex Haley, Julian Bond, Huey Newton, Stanley Crouch, Chester Himes, Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim. Players featured a number of pieces by black writers whose work focused on the experiences of black Americans as well as relevant political themes. The magazine closed in 2005, and was survived by a handful of spin-offs. Georgia State Senator and future NAACP Chairman Julian Bond was another notable contributor to Players. Iceberg Slim himself penned short stories which would form the basis of the 1979 anthology Airtight Willie and Me, published by Holloway House. Cultural critic Stanley Crouch was the magazine's top music columnist and his protégé Wynton Marsalis was prominently featured in the magazine. Influential media critic Donald Bogle was a contributor to Players. Los Angeles-based journalist Emory Holmes II also had two stints as the head of the publication. She was replaced after six issues by Iceman author Joseph Nazel, whose books were frequently advertised in the magazine. The first few issues were edited by then little known poet Wanda Coleman. Simultaneously, they were exploiting marginalized artists and writers to produce content for their company. Holloway House Publishing avoided both the East Coast literary establishment and Johnson Publishing Company by distributing their books in inner-city communities, prisons, and military bases across the country. The magazine made no effort to hide its large inmate readership, featuring a letter from prison in virtually every reader's mail column. Players straddled the line between the mainstream aspirations of Playboy and the braggadocio associated with urban street cultures, with thinly veiled allusions to gold diggers and quick material gain. The cover girl for the inaugural November 1973 issue was former Playboy Italy Playmate and cover girl Zeudi Araya. This prompted the creation of a series of novels starring Iceman, a fictional pimp turned vigilante patterned after Slim, and a brand new adult magazine called Players. When Holloway House struck gold with several accounts of the sex trade in the African-American underworld, in particular those by real life macks Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines, Morris and Weinstock realized the demand for mature ethnic entertainment. While the company did release serious biographies, it made a large share of its money from sensationalist books about sex workers and alternative lifestyles. The pair also owned a paperback book business, Holloway House Publishing. Morris and Weinstock, who were both white, had a long experience in the realm of men's magazines as owners of Adam and Sir Knight. Players was published by Bentley Morriss and Ralph Weinstock, doing business as Players International Publications. Players Magazine, amongst the others before it, attempted to end the narrative of ignorance towards Black life or the everyday representation of Black people. Players Magazine would come along, as it would take this narrative and flip it to a sexualized state, which would change the world of snuff magazines. These images were originally to challenge racist stereotypes, but would turn it on its head to create a vision of empowerment. Once new black-centric magazines came in to the fold, publications such as The Messenger, Opportunity, and The Crisis would regularly show and portray photographs and short descriptions of Black life in America, specifically Women, to enlighten the masses as both moral and aspirational figures. It was often nicknamed "the black Playboy" for its attempt at providing the African-American public with a racy, yet elegant reading choice. Players was an American monthly softcore men's magazine. ( May 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. This article possibly contains original research.
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