|
| Thank you Mr. Johnson. March, 2007 |
 |
| Can lightening strike twice? |
Every oak tree started with a tiny acorn.
Mr. Johnson Did It. We Can Do It Too!
Mr. John H. Johnson, founder and publisher of Ebony and Jet Magazines died on August 9, 2005 at the age of 87. Through hard work, supreme self-confidence, and dogged determination Mr. Johnson turned a $500 loan into a multi-million publishing empire. While other national magazines ignored black people, Ebony Magazine highlighted the positive aspects of black life.
Here's how Mr Johnson did it"
"In 1942 while Mr. Johnson was still an employee at Supreme Life, he persuaded his mother to help him borrow $500. He asked 20,000 of the company's policyholders for $2 to subscribe to what was still a nonexistent magazine. About 3,000 people did so. That June, he published Negro Digest, modeled on Reader's Digest.
To get the magazine on newsstands, he got 20 friends to ask for it. The newsstands then called distributors and requested it. After his friends bought the magazines, Mr. Johnson resold them.
The same strategy was applied in other cities, and within a year, Negro Digest had a circulation of 50,000."
(NewYorkTimes.com) Click here.
In recent years, local media has made tremendous progress in covering news events that are of a particular interest to the black community. But there is much more work needed to be done.
Our young people need to have their voices heard. They need a vehicle to express their opinions.
That is why we will embark on an adventure of freedom and creativity. This newsletter is an experiment in socially cognizant self-expression, relevant education and community activism.
In the months ahead, we will evaluate events in our community from An African-American Perspective with the hope of developing a dialogue among African-Americans and other groups within our community.
| Related links:
|
| Support these Organizations. |
 |
|
 |
|
|
