Earl G. Graves Sr., the founder and publisher of the first black-owned magazine that focused on black entrepreneurs, died Monday at the age of 85.
“It is with profound sadness that we share news of the passing of Black Enterprise Founder Earl G. Graves Sr.,” Black Enterprise said Tuesday in a tweet. “We will evermore celebrate his life and legacy.”
Graves launched Black Enterprise in 1970, building it “from a single-magazine publishing company 50 years ago, to a diversified multimedia business spreading the message of financial empowerment to more than 6 million African Americans through print, digital, broadcast and live-event platforms,” according to Black Enterprise senior vice president and chief content officer Derek T. Dingle.
An Army veteran and HBCU graduate of Morgan State University, Graves also served as the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy’s administrative assistant for three years.
The Brooklyn native in 1999 went on to receive the 84th NAACP Spingarn Medal, the highest distinction awarded by the storied civil rights organization and one of a number of prizes that recognized his success. He was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame, was named by Fortune as one of the 50 most powerful and influential African Americans in corporate America and won a U.S. Army Commendation Award as a former member of the Green Berets. Read the full article.
