About
Margena A. Christian, Ed.D. is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she is a founding faculty member of the Professional Writing minor. Her research interests focus on the intersections of the role of the media in education, Black popular culture and historical inquiry. At the Research 1 institution, she was chosen by the UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Blacks (CCSB) as a Black History Maker for 2021.
Christian is the author of Empire: The House That John H. Johnson Built (The Life & Legacy of Pioneering Publishing Magnate). The media scholar is a former Senior Editor and Senior Writer with the pioneering, African American monthly EBONY magazine. She is the only editor in the history of Johnson Publishing Company (JPC) to have written for EBONY, JET, EBONY Man, EBONY South Africa, EBONY Fashion Fair and EBONY.com. Dr. Christian compiled the history for EBONY Fashion Fair, JPC's pioneering traveling fashion show, and was the last editor at JPC to have worked with late publishing magnate John H. Johnson, founder of JPC, before leaving the company in 2014.
Commissioned articles written by Christian about John H. Johnson, Eunice W. Johnson, Lerone Bennett Jr., Bo Diddley, Tupac Shakur, Christopher "Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, Donna Summer, Aaliyah, Luther Vandross, Ossie Davis, and Della Reese are on American National Biography (Oxford University Press). Excerpts of JET magazine stories she authored have been used in academic textbooks, including Ideas & Details: A Guide to College Writing, Making Media Work: Cultures of Management in the Entertainment Industries and in Magazine Writing.
Currently she is writing It's No Wonder: The Life and Music of Motown's Sylvia Moy. The authorized biography is about the Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee and Motown's first certified female in-house songwriter and producer, who helped to revive a teen Stevie Wonder's early career with hit songs such as Uptight (Everything's Alright), I Was Made to Love Her, and My Cherie Amour (Hachette Spring 2025).
Featured Work
Empire: The House That John H. Johnson Built (The Life & Legacy of Pioneering Publishing Magnate)
African-American stories were overlooked by mainstream media until John H. Johnson showed the world the value of black life. In his magazines EBONY and JET, the publisher and businessman presented never-before-told accounts and used captivating, memorable images to share stories of black people. In Empire: The House That John H. Johnson Built (The Life & Legacy of Pioneering Publishing Magnate), Margena A. Christian conducts extensive archival research, drawing upon rare sources and a personal decade-long relationship as an employee under the direct tutelage of Johnson. She meticulously constructs the complex story of what made the founder of these magazines become one of history’s greatest publishers and businessmen. The poor boy from Arkansas City, Arkansas, who picked cotton as a child, advised presidents and civil rights leaders. He went on to become the first black person named to the Forbes 400 Richest Americans and amassed an empire, ranging from publishing, cosmetics, travel, radio stations, TV shows, hair care products, and world’s largest traveling fashion show.
Other Works
-
Wally, Where'd You Get Those Glasses? My Life Through the Lens of Parliament, Pendergrass and Prince
2019
