Friday marks what would have been the 100th birthday of EBONY and Jet magazines founder John H. Johnson.
The Arkansas city native, who was born in 1918, first made a name for himself in the publishing world when he established Negro Digest in 1942. Three years into circulation of the Chicago-based magazine, Johnson founded EBONY. The precedent-setting publication created for Black women would become a culture-defining and historic publication. With the founding of EBONY and Jet, Johnson created two resources that would become reliable pillars of the Black community.
Commemorate his legacy with us by taking a look at a few photos taken of Mr. Johnson throughout his career.
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- In his book “Succeeding Against the Odds,” Johnson iterates the depth of EBONY and Jet’s devotion to the Black community: “Not only did we report the struggle, but we also became a part of the struggle. We didn’t stand on our credentials.”
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- Anyone who knew Mr. Johnson in the slightest sense knew better than to let one particular word slip from their mouth. Johnson lived by one mantra: “Failure is a word I don’t accept.”
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- The magazines are just half the legacy. Aside from the pivotal role he played in establishing the Black media market, Johnson was most revered for the respect with which he treated others. Johnson knew the first names of every single one of his employees.
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- Family Man: Johnson’s love for his mother Gertrude Johnson Williams could only begin to be measured by his commitment to giving her a dozen roses every Sunday.
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- Although he could boast an impressive passport, Johnson’s enduring entrepreneurial spirit meant he favored no other destination as much as that of Johnson Publishing Company headquarters in Chicago.
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- “The reason I succeeded was that I didn’t know that it was impossible to succeed. For me, then, ignorance was a blessing. Since I didn’t know that it was impossible to do what I wanted to do, I did it.” – John H. Johnson
Happy 100th birthday, Mr. Johnson.
