More Like Beechwood

via negrophile.com

When he arrived at Hallmark, Barnes had expected to find a staff of African-American designers and writers working on the Mahogany imprint, a line of cards tailored for black consumers. Instead, he found a white art director, a white editorial director and white writers. "

"That was a huge shock to me," Barnes tells the Pitch. "When you make a line of cards specifically targeted to a certain demographic, there is a distinct voice that can only come from people who have themselves lived through the experience. That is not to say that my white coworkers weren't writing beautiful Mahogany pieces, but what I didn't see was an influx of African-American writers getting a chance to express their own experiences or to be writers, period. We would be in editorial meetings consisting of every writer, editor and editorial director in the company, about 100 strong, and each and every time, I was the only African-American man in the room."

Hallmark introduced its first greeting cards for black consumers in the 1960s, but it didn't launch a full-fledged line until 1987, when it unveiled Mahogany as a 16-card seasonal offering. Now, with more than 800 options, it's the largest card catalog marketed to African-Americans."

No comment. Last Christmas I got an art set to begin making my own cards again.   ... again !