‘Black Orange’ Magazine Making Its Mark : Media: 2-year-old publication gains in readership and repute as it covers news and issues affecting county’s African Americans.

When Joyce and Randall Jordan moved here from Chicago nine years ago, they left a city with one of the largest black populations in the U.S. for one where blacks constitute less than 1% of the residents.

What ensued, the couple said, was culture shock.

No longer could they go to a nearby food market to purchase grits and other “soul food,” or visit the local hair salon to get the latest black styles. Most of what they needed was available in Los Angeles, but the couple still longed for the camaraderie of other African Americans closer to home.

So, on this day in 1992, they did something about it.

Two years ago, the Jordans published the first issue of what would later become The Black Orange, the only publication that regularly compiles events and services aimed at Orange County’s tiny black community.

Twenty-four monthly issues later, the publication has grown from a single-page schedule of events to a small magazine that includes community news and offers hard-hitting commentary. The Black Orange lists everything from job opportunities to a church directory and recently has begun tackling local controversies such as the fatal shooting of Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Darryn Robins by a fellow deputy.

“This is something that the black community had been longing for. When we started to do this, we quickly realized what a big void we were filling,” Joyce Jordan said. “People were excited and amazed at what was going on throughout the county. Without the support and calls from the community, this magazine would not exist.”

Said Jennifer Randolph, 28, a Santa Ana resident: “It’s been a real gift. I’m glad that someone is taking the time to do this. I read it regularly and try to go to as many events as I can.”

Two years ago, the Jordans never envisioned an ongoing publication. In fact, the first issue was intended to be the only issue.

Joyce Jordan had volunteered to work for the county’s Historical Commission after learning that the group was having difficulty organizing events and activities for Black History Month.

Her assignment: create a list of the month’s events and activities, and distribute it during the Black History Month Parade and Cultural Fair the first weekend in February.

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Only days after passing out 500 copies of the free list, the cost of which was absorbed by the Jordans, the couple began receiving numerous calls from people who wanted one or wanted to add their event to it.

“It was so well received, the response was so good, that we came out with a special edition,” she said. “By the time February was over, we had requests from businesses to advertise in future issues.”

“After that, we were kind of shoved along,” Joyce Jordan said.

In mid-1992, the Jordans made their first “leap of faith” into the business when they decided to stop photocopying the magazine at a copy center and purchased their own copying equipment. A computer system and a copier cost them at least $20,000.

From their garage and an adjoining makeshift office, the couple--who had no experience producing a publication--wrote text, updated listings of events, handled advertising and printed the magazine with the help of friends who volunteered their time.

The Black Orange’s circulation has grown to 2,500, and the $1.75 publication now can be found at 10 different locations in Orange County and one in Inglewood.

This month’s issue includes a “special news” commentary by the couple that questions safety procedures and circumstances surrounding the death of Robins, a black deputy who was shot on Christmas Day during a training exercise. The Sheriff’s Department has called the shooting accidental.

Randall Jordan said such commentary is necessary.

“The black community had an obligation and a right to look into all aspects of the shooting,” he said. In fact, when he and his wife talk about the Black Orange, they describe it as the community’s publication.

But Robert MacLeod, the general manager of the Orange County Deputy Sheriff’s Assn., said that Jordan and other black leaders should not have made the incident into a racial matter.

“I have no problem with his publication. My quarrel is that they’re trying to turn this into a racial issue, and it’s not,” MacLeod said.

But Jeffery Baxter of Irvine, a 38-year-old sales executive who buys the Black Orange every month, said, “I think the questions they raised about the shooting were valid.”

Baxter said he considers the publication “an indispensable source of information.”

“I’ve lived here for five years so I can attest that things were pretty lonely for a while,” Baxter said. “I read all of their material. It’s pretty interesting.” He added that “through the Black Orange, I’ve been able to find out about a lot of ethnic organizations.”

Last year, the Jordans were given appreciation awards by at least five different black organizations in Orange County. Such feedback, the couple said, makes their job worthwhile.

But the publication has a way to go before it becomes an influential voice with local policy makers. Local officials, including Sheriff Brad Gates, said they had not heard of the Black Orange or did not regularly read it.

Robert D. Breton, former mayor of Mission Viejo and now a City Council member here, said that he knows of the publication only by name.

“I’ve heard about it through the local newspaper but have never read it,” he said.

Gates, speaking through an aide, said that he was unfamiliar with the Jordans’ magazine.

But the Jordans said they are working toward the day when their magazine is a voice for African Americans, a publication that can unite a community that has no hub in Orange County.

“We provide an outlet for people to express themselves,” said Joyce Jordan. “This vehicle represents the community’s voice.”

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The Black Orange is not yet a profitable venture. The Jordans’ costs total $3,000 a month, but they earn less than half that amount in advertising revenue.

Last year, the Jordans made their second “leap of faith” by leasing an expensive printing machine to take the place of their copier, which could no longer handle the demands of the publication’s monthly circulation.

Joyce Jordan, 42, gave up a full-time job in favor of part-time work in order to concentrate on the publication. This month, Randall Jordan, 43, who had been working as a computer network specialist, was laid off when his company reduced its work force.

For the past week, they have been working from “sunup till sundown” with the Black History Month edition.

The lack of income from work has instilled a sense of urgency in the couple to turn a profit on the magazine. They said that they are getting closer to achieving that goal and should be breaking even by June.

Ideally, Joyce said, she would like to hire a full-time employee to run the magazine when profits allow. In the meantime, the couple supplement their income from the magazine by operating a separate printing and mailing service.

“We keep saying to ourselves that we’re going to take a vacation, but we never have the time,” Randall Jordan said. “If I knew then about the amount of time that had to go into this, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Today, the Jordans will celebrate the Black Orange’s second anniversary with a party at Images, a Santa Ana store that specializes in merchandise for the county’s black community.