John H. Johnson, a Pioneer in Black Magazine Publishing, Dead at 87
Date: Monday, August 08, 2005
By: Michael Cottman, BlackAmericaWeb.com, and Associated Press
John H. Johnson, the visionary entrepreneur who borrowed $500 in 1942 to build the nation’s most successful black publishing empire, which included Ebony and Jet magazines, died Monday. He was 87.
LaTrina Blair, promotions manager for Johnson Publishing Co., confirmed Johnson's death as the company this year is celebrating Ebony’s 60th anniversary.
“Ebony Magazine Fetes 60 Years of Success” If you were raised in a black home, had your hair cut at a black barber shop or got a perm at the neighborhood salon, it’s safe to assume that a stylish issue of Ebony magazine was always well within reach.
"Words cannot express the deep sorrow I feel over the loss of John H. Johnson, who was more than just a publishing giant, he was a teacher," said Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL.), whose congressional district includes Chicago, where Johnson Publishing has been headquartered since its founding.
"Throughout his career, he educated our nation on the life experiences and accomplishments of African-Americans in his magazines, Ebony and Jet," Rush said in a statement. "For over 60 years, he told our stories of triumph and success that other media outlets often chose to ignore. By providing a voice for African-Americans to tell their story, he was able to provide his readers with words, pictures and an archive of our history."
Rev. Jesse Jackson told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday night that Johnson’s journalism contributions were far reaching.
"The tallest tree in the history of African-American journalism has fallen, but has fallen gracefully," Jackson said, "the tree that stood tall for over 60 years and a tree that planted a forest, a tree with widespread limbs and full of fruit."
"What he did was so profound," said Jackson. "He put a human face on black people. He showed us black weddings. He showed us blacks in opera. He showed us black scientists. He showed us black writers, thinkers and creators. We miss him already, but his legacy and his company lives on."
Born into an impoverished family in Arkansas, Johnson went into business with a $500 loan secured by his mother's furniture and built a publishing and cosmetics empire that made him one of the wealthiest and most influential black men in the United States.
Ebony, under the stewardship of Johnson, has consistently chronicled life in black communities across the nation, from the civil rights movement of the 1960s to the economic and political challenges of today.
"This is a big loss," Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told BlackAmericaWeb.com Monday evening. "Ebony and Jet are the best known and most widely read magazines in the African-American community, and they are certainly in just about every household I go into. My mother reads Ebony and Jet on a regular basis. Mr. Johnson had the vision and longevity to stick with it."
"The death of John H. Johnson is a significant loss for the African-American community," Myra L. Dandridge, communications director for the CBC, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "Mr. Johnson, through his vision and insight, helped fill a void in a marketplace that consistently ignored newS relevant to our community."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), said he is an avid reader of both Ebony and Jet magazines.
"His major contributions to the publishing world blessed the lives of millions of people of color," Cummings said of Johnson in a statement Monday evening. "Mr. Johnson was an inspiration to all Americans, as he challenged the media to accept and revere people of all backgrounds. Mr. Johnson's accomplishments will continue to impact generations yet unborn."
Ironically, Ebony is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and black journalists honored Johnson in his hometown of Arkansas City, Arkansas as well as during an annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists in Atlanta last week.
Media analysts say Ebony magazine pioneered "black journalism," offering numerous black writers a career in the industry when white newspapers and magazines often overlooked black writers. But perhaps most important, Ebony has offered black readers uplifting, positive and entertaining stories that continue to portray black Americans with dignity.
"Long before Al Neuharth began USA Today in 1982 advocating the "journalism of hope," John H. Johnson was doing that for African-Americans with Ebony," Richard Prince, who writes a media diversity column for the Maynard Institute, told BlackAmericaWeb.com for a recent article on Ebony's 60th anniversary.
"A part of the civil rights movement involves the recognition that a certain amount of progress has been made in the movement," Prince said. "Ebony and Jet have played important roles in providing recognition of that progress."
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Beyond his own economic stature, Johnson broke new ground by bringing positive portrayals of blacks into a mass-market publication and encouraging corporations to use black models in advertising aimed at black consumers.
Johnson built Ebony from a circulation of 25,000 on its first press run in November 1945 to a monthly circulation of 1.9 million in 1997. Jet magazine, a newsweekly, was founded in 1951, and a third magazine, Ebony Man, a monthly men's magazine, was started in 1985.
At 87 years old, Johnson, who was still somewhat involved in the business he founded, once said: "When I go in to see people -- and I sell an occasional ad now -- I never say, 'Help me because I am black' or 'Help me because I am a minority.' I always talk about what we can do for them."
Johnson was born Jan. 19, 1918 in Arkansas City, Ark., and moved to Chicago with his family at age 15. After graduating from public schools, Johnson attended the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
While working at black-owned Supreme Life Insurance Co., where he started as a clerk, Johnson founded Johnson Publishing Co. in 1942. Its first magazine was Negro Digest, a journal that condensed articles of interest to blacks and published the poems and short stories of black writers.
Johnson used Supreme Life's mailing list to offer discount charter subscriptions. To persuade a distributor to take the magazine, he got co-workers to ask for it at newsstands on Chicago's South Side. Friends bought most of the copies, convincing dealers the magazine was in demand, while Johnson reimbursed the friends and resold the copies they had bought.
The tactic was used in New York, Philadelphia and Detroit, and within a year, Negro Digest was selling 50,000 copies a month. The magazine, is no longer published.
Johnson launched Ebony just after World War II, as black soldiers were returning home. At the time, there were no black players in major league baseball and little black political representation.
With blacks' income far below white Americans, the idea of a black publishing company was widely dismissed. Civil rights leader Roy Wilkins advised Johnson to forget the publishing business and save himself a lot of disappointment; Wilkins later acknowledged he gave Johnson bad advice.
"I can still vividly remember the pictures Jet magazine published of Emmett Till's body in 1955. Back then as a young boy, I was horrified by the images as my mother shared the injustice surrounding his death," said Rep. Rush. "In 2005, I realize the real horror would have been if Mr. Johnson had bowed down to racial pressure, and not published the photos."
"Today, the African-American community lost one of the most dedicated and inspirational publishing pioneers of our time," he added. "The legacy of Mr. Johnson's accomplishments will continue to live on as African-American journalists and publishers continue to cover, uncover and discover the successes that exist in our culture.
Ebony -- named by Johnson's wife, Eunice -- was created to counter stereotypical portrayals of blacks in white-owned newspapers, magazines and broadcast media. The monthly magazine generally shuns critical articles about black problems, instead highlighting the positive in black life.
"We try to seek out good things, even when everything seems bad," Johnson once said in explaining the magazine's purpose. "We look for breakthroughs, we look for people who have made it, who have succeeded against the odds, who have proven somehow that long shots do come in."
Beginning with television maker Zenith Corp., Johnson broke the barrier of major white companies advertising in black media. Johnson sent an ad salesman to Detroit every week for 10 years before an auto manufacturer agreed to advertise in the magazine.
"We couldn't do it then by marching, and we couldn't do it by threatening," Johnson said of gaining advertisers. "We had to persuade people that it was in their best interest to reach out to black consumers in a positive way."
Besides his wife, Johnson is survived by a daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, president of Johnson Publishing.
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Tuesday, August 9th 2005 at 12:00PM
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