In this post, we’re going to focus on the Jet Magazine covers from the year 1970. This is the year that Jet Magazine began going full throttle with the afros. The first afro of 1970, on the cover Jet magazine, was none other than Angela Davis, with the last issue of the year (in December) showing Jackson 5 on the cover.

Blaxploitation This is also the decade that Blaxploitation films were created. The Blaxplotation genre was created to target black people. Not only did the movies star blacks, but the casts were mostly black as well. In these films, you may often find various characters who proudly rocked their afros.

Blaxploitation films that were released in the year of 1970 include They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! (starring Sidney Poitier) and Cotton Comes to Harlem (starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx). Blaxploitation films often were filled with characters who were pimps, hookers, or drug dealers. Some felt that Blaxploitation films perpetuated negative stereotypes about blacks. To stop this, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the Urban League formed the Coalition Against Blaxploitation, eventually killing off the genre.

There’s so many in this decade that I have plenty to show you in future posts. (I think that I’m going to break them up into four or more posts.) Here’s something that’s really neat about one of the covers. If you look at the March 1970 cover, you will see that the headline says “What Naturals Are Doing to Beauty and Barber Shops.” Interesting! Enjoy.