August 11, 2005

Johnson didn't get mad, he got smart, successful

Mary Mitchell
Chicago Sun-Times

I didn't know John H. Johnson. But given everything I've heard about him since his death on Aug. 8, he must be looking down on black folks and shaking his head. Will we ever learn? Or will most black people continue to look to white people to validate their worth until the bitter end? Since Johnson's death, there's been a campaign to shame white-owned media into giving Johnson's life and death greater coverage. Under pressure, some publications and news stations managed to pull packages together at the end of last week.

But in begging these news outlets to celebrate Johnson's contributions, doesn't that make a mockery of the legacy we claim to honor? Wasn't one of the biggest lessons Johnson taught that black people didn't have to wait for white people to honor prominent African Americans?

Johnson became a wealthy man because he didn't wait for white people to get it. He was clear. He understood that it will always be up to black people to celebrate their own successes and to honor their own heroes.

I'm not saying that Johnson didn't deserve every word of praise heaped on him by the white media. After all, Johnson was a marketing genius. Where would all those advertisers be today if they hadn't reached African Americans -- the biggest consumer market in the country?

15 pages in Defender

And where would common black people have been without Ebony and Jet magazines?

Yes, he gave famous black celebrities the superstar treatment white celebrities were getting in Life and Vanity Fair. But Johnson's publications gave young blacks in urban ghettos and on rural farms a glimpse of high society that wasn't about whites.

I didn't know John H. Johnson.

Still, I'd think he'd be mortified that his admirers are feverishly trying to pitch his story to white-owned media.

As reported in a Chicago Sun-Times article on Sunday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson "was so upset by the lack of media coverage of Johnson's death that he sent a letter to the television networks urging them to consider a feature on the impact of Johnson's life."

It was also noted that while news anchor Peter Jennings' death was marked by cover stories in People and Newsweek, Johnson's death was given only a few sentences in those publications.

But anyone who was interested in learning more about Johnson's life had only to pick up the Aug. 9 edition of the Chicago Defender. The 100-year-old black newspaper had Johnson's legacy covered. The publication devoted 15 pages to articles, commentary and photographs chronicling Johnson's career.

Although national newsmagazines gave Johnson short shrift, black readers could be proud that Black America's daily newspaper pulled out all the stops in its coverage.

Instead of getting insulted about how white-dominated media covered Johnson, black people were given an opportunity to demonstrate its support of a publication that has been focused on black life for a century. Copies of the Defender's Aug. 9 edition should have flown off the newsstands.

That's the lesson that has stuck with me since Johnson died: As long as black people are haranguing white business owners to include them in their vision, black businesses will continue to struggle.

Focus on missing white teen

Sometimes I am lulled into believing this disparity will change.

Then along comes a story like that of 24-year-old LaToyia Figueroa, the pregnant Philadelphia woman whose body was discovered last Saturday. Figueroa's ex-boyfriend and the father of her unborn child has been charged with her murder. The Hispanic woman was missing from her home during the same time that the national media spotlight was focused on Natalee Holloway, a white teenage girl from Alabama who went missing in Aruba.

Yet, it took the sharp criticism of bloggers to shame the media into covering Figueroa's disappearance.

Johnson knew this kind of racial bias wouldn't change in his lifetime, but he didn't march about it. Although he was a philanthropist and supported the civil rights movement with his publications and his bank account, he didn't get so insulted by racism that he missed the opportunity to create the kind of wealth that could be passed on to his survivors.

Amid the grumblings about what black celebrities and what white media should have done to show their respect for an American legend who was born black, let's not forget John H. Johnson wasn't a complainer.

He was an astute businessman who forged a path for other black entrepreneurs. Johnson saw a huge void in an industry that remains biased at its core and devised a scheme to fill it. In looking at his life, we are reminded that nothing great happens unless you are willing to take a risk.

I didn't know John H. Johnson.

But I believe instead of getting angry that the old adage "white is right" still holds true in the media today, Johnson wouldn't have missed the opportunity to run circles around his competitors.