Kansas City, Missouri February 2, 2010---With an initial launch circulation of four million readers, it is clear that America is ready to talk about what USARiseUp Magazine calls “the great racial divide.” Through a monthly publication, along with several forums and blogs on their website, this eZine aims at keeping the means for that dialogue open to everyone.
USARiseUp Magazine produces a monthly downloadable eZine packed with news and insightful articles addressing cultural events, cultural uniqueness, ethnic identity, multiethnic society and racial integration. The content is put together by USARiseUp’s talented, multi-ethnic staff of writers who also blog weekly on USARiseUp.com.
But, this magazine isn’t just something for people to read. USARiseUp encourages readers to get involved with the publication by commenting on racial articles, posting comments on message boards and having virtual conversations with one another. Additionally, in the powerful introductory video available on the website, newcomers to USARiseUp Magazine meet others just like them who are ready to explore and celebrate diversity in a safe, open forum environment.
USARiseUp Magazine’s mission is simple. “Our mission is to provide a forum where every can engage in an ongoing conversation about race matters — topics they may not be comfortable chatting about in their office hallways, street corners, grocery store isles and even their own living rooms,” states the website. The publication was founded by publisher and executive director Janice Ellis, Ph.D. She credits her passion for providing this racial platform to growing up on a farm in Mississippi and completing school during the advent of integration. Through these experiences she realized that people are connected through their experiences, but without the proper dialogue, that connection is never discovered.
“We, at USARiseUp, believe that if we have an ongoing opportunity to learn more about each other, we can gain a better understanding of our differences, find great comfort in what we have in common and build a strong foundation upon which we can bridge our divisions,” writes Ellis.
By encouraging ongoing conversation and through focused writing, the staff at USARiseUp hopes to close the racial divide.
About RiseUp
USARiseUp.com was formed the summer of 2008 as a weekly print publication and arrived on a crowded media stage, chock-a-block with dailies, weeklies and magazines. Its focus is race — a “beat” often overlooked by the mainstream press — and it promised to offer a fresh take on it. It has appeared as an insert in 12 papers including the New York Daily News, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Kansas City Star and St. Louis Post-Dispatch, among others. Despite an overwhelming response and a circulation of 4 million, a few issues later, a cash crunch forced it to disappear. A year (and many teardrops) later, in May 2009, it reappeared — as USARiseUp.
USARiseUp, the digital offspring of RiseUp, is an online magazine about race and ethnicity that celebrates people of different cultures and color. Its physical home is located in the American heartland, in Kansas City, Missouri.
For more information, visit the website at www.USARiseUp.com. You can also contact us by mail at 4435 Main Street, Suite 920, Kansas City, MO 64111 or by telephone at 1-816-561-5200.
