Thing is, a memorial service is different from a funeral. I was under the impression that he paid for her funeral and I know damn well she didn’t die poor. Again, her family had a very successful funeral business in Chicago that only closed because they had no other relatives to take it over and although it closed before her death, I would suspect, out of anyone, especially considering her age, she would have had some type of arrangements in order.
Although TN may have paid for her memorial service, which that thread states, and is *factually* correct, I’m most certain that her family had to have private services for her in January. I was looking for internment information online to find out where she was buried but couldn’t find anything. Burial date would answer that question. Or she could have been cremated.
I asked a question in the Root section about whether people felt reparations should apply to ancestors of those who were free before the Civil War broke out. What is your take on that?
How long were they free though? At some point there was someone enslaved. Also, Reps are about correcting historical injustices perpetuated by a legal system backed by local and federal governments. Virginia enacted black codes at the turn of the 19th century that stated all free blacks that continued to reside in the state would henceforth have their freedom revoked and committed to chattel slavery. Because of this, you saw a mass exodus of free blacks from Virginia around 1799 into Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois, most of whom had to leave their property behind which I’m assuming was annexed to the state. There should be recompense for this legal act instituted by the State of Virginia against free blacks that were forced to leave their property and wealth behind to flee in order to maintain their freedom.
• Petitions to remain in Virginia
• In 1806, the General Assembly moved to remove the free Negro population
from Virginia with a law that stated that all emancipated slaves, freed after May 1, 1806, who remained in the Commonwealth more than a year, would forfeit his right to freedom and be sold by the Overseers of the Poor for the benefit of the parish. Families wishing to stay were to petition the legislature through the local county court.
• In 1826 the Sheriff replaced the Overseers of the Poor as the selling agent for free Negroes remaining in Virginia. The Court could authorize this sale only upon a jury verdict or confession by the party. In 1831 the law was amended slightly: the sheriff could sell the free Negroes at an auction who remained in Virginia contrary to the 1806 law.
Speaking of a "boss", this may be a good time to spotlight John H. Johnson, founder of Johnson Publishing Company, the media conglomerate that managed Ebony, Jet, and Fashion Fair, which had to file for bankruptcy today.
My “Ebony Cookbook” is tattered from a lifetime of love.
But I can’t bear to replace it.
It holds the most cherished memories of raising my family through the good times and the bad.
That’s the legacy of Johnson Publishing Company. More than a media conglomerate, Johnson Publishing Company represents the achievements of a generation of black people who took what little they had and made something big out of it.
Although the iconic publishing company has been stumbling for a while, the announcement that the company founded by John H. Johnson has ended its 77-year run with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing stings.
“This was a place, a titan of the industry, a symbol of black hope and success, and to see it this way, and see all the pieces fall away is distressing, said Lee Bey, writer and senior lecturer at the School of the Art Institute.
“All these institutions — George Johnson and Johnson Products, Baldwin Ice Cream and Sivart Mortgage Company (founded by Dempsey Travis in the 1950s) — marked our ascension here in Chicago. It was the promise land where you could get off the plow. You could come to Chicago and be anything. For these companies not to be as successful in the second and third generation as in the first, lumped on the diminishing population in Chicago, is a sea change, and sometimes these changes are uncomfortable,” Bey said.
SPECIAL TO AURORA BEACON NEWS–FILE–John H. Johnson, publisher, chairman and CEO of Johnson Publish Co. poses Nov.9,1992 with his daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, in the firm’s Chicago headquarters. He is giving his daughter, who is president of the company, increasing responsibilites in operations of the firm, which is celebrating 50 years in the publishing business.
Haki Madhubuti, poet, writer, lecturer and founder of Third World Press, the largest independent black-owned press in the U.S., called it a “sad day.”
“One cannot quantify or really deal with the importance of Johnson Publishing Company throughout the world community in terms of its critical place in the lives of black people,” Madhubuti said.
“What helped put me on the map as a poet and a writer was my association with one of [Ebony’s] top editors, Hoyt W. Fuller, and his masterful editorship of Negro Digest and Black World magazine. Just about every black intellectual writer, poet in the country appeared under his editorship,” he said.
“It was a sad day when they had to sell the building. It was a sad day when they had to downsize to the point the magazine was being edited outside of Chicago and ceased to be the international publication that its founder had brought into existence,” he said.
Like many other media outlets, Johnson Publishing Company, which included Jet Magazine, Ebony and Fashion Fair Cosmetics — all iconic brands, has struggled to regain its customer base that was enticed away as their competitors became more inclusive.
“I grew up with Ebony on the coffee table in a small town outside Memphis — Bolivar, Tenn.,” said Lynn Norment, a former Ebony editor.
“It meant so much to us. It was our connection to the world and that is how I knew there was a life outside of Bolivar. I read about business people, corporate people, celebrities and religious leaders across the country,” she said.
“It was very inspiring and gave me something to aspire to. Having worked there for 30 years, now I realize I was there during the heydays. This bankruptcy hurts me on a personal level,” she said.
The decline of Johnson Publishing has been a slow, painful process that began with the selling of the South Michigan headquarters in 2010. It was the first downtown office building designed by a black architect and the first office building owned by a black businessman.
In 2016, Ebony and Jet were sold to an equity firm in Texas. A year later, the company’s money woes were put on full blast when writers, outraged over the lack of payment for their work, sued Ebony. The magazine agreed to pay nearly $80,000 to the freelancers to settle the lawsuit.
For those of us who grew up in awe of the powerful brand, the magazine’s public feud with writers and photographers felt like a betrayal and a stain on Johnson’s legacy.
Johnson’s bankruptcy isn’t the first and won’t be the last. After all, the Chicago Sun-Times went through bankruptcy reorganization in 2009, and we survived.
Still, watching the dismantling of this historic company is like watching someone lose their mama’s house after all her sweat and tears.
This sudden loss hits home.
“We must understand that we would not be the people we are today without the insightful input from Johnson Publishing,” Madhubuti said.
John Harold Johnson became the richest black man in America during his lifetime and the first black person to appear on the Forbes 400.
Johnson was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas in 1918 but moved to Chicago when he was a young boy.
Here's a video of Johnson describing his early childhood:
After he graduated from high school, he was offered a job to work at Supreme Liberty Life Insurance, an old line black Chicago business, by the then president at the time, Harry Pace, who was impressed with Johnson after hearing him speak at an Urban League dinner because of his outstanding academic record in high school. Also, at the time, Johnson entered into the University of Chicago.
Harry Pace-
Supreme Liberty Life Insurance
Within two years, he moved on to become Pace's assistant, where he was tasked to produce a monthly digest of newspaper articles for the company. Johnson wondered if the production of a monthly digest modeled after the Reader's Digest might be enjoyed by the broader black community. This, along with having the opportunity to see how the day to day operations of a business owned by a black man was ran, provided the springboard to which was the catalyst of his first business venture, the Negro Digest.
Once the idea of a Negro Digest came to fruition, it became a goldmine. After six months, circulation had reached 50,000. The digest covered history, literature, arts, and cultural issues.
Ebony & Jet Magazines -
Although the Negro Digest was successful, its popularity was overshadowed by Johnson's subsequent business ventures, Ebony and Jet Magazines, which were modeled after Look and Life magazines, and whose initial purpose was to spotlight successful and affluent African Americans. Later, it expanded to include articles about current events, politics, race relations, fashion, and the arts.
^^^^^Cool Fact: This lady in yellow was a priest at my church and taught me how to waltz when I was an escort for a deb ball. Her family owned both a funeral home and currently one of the 12 last existing black owned banks in the United States.^^^^^^^^^
Johnson married the glamorous Eunice Johnson.
Eunice Johnson became CEO of Johnson Publishing Company's Ebony Fashion Fair and Fashion Fair Cosmetics that was launched by her husband and became the world's number one makeup and skin care company for women of color, and Supreme Beauty products (hair care for men and women). Ebony Fashion Fair became the world's largest traveling fashion show and visits more than 200 cities in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.
Ebony Fashion Fair
Johnson Publishing also has a book division and employed more than 2,600 people, with sales of over $388 million. Johnson purchased three radio stations, started a book publishing company, and a television production company, and served on the board of directors of several major businesses, including the Greyhound Corporation.
John was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Chicago's Beta Boule.
His wife Eunice was a member of the Chicago Girlfriends and Northeasterners.
John and Eunice's daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, took over Johnson Publishing Company when her parent's died.
Linda is also best friends with other high powered Chicago women, including Valerie Jarrett and Desire Rogers.
Linda Johnson Rice was married to football player and businessman Mel Farr. Mel played for the Detroit Lions. After his football career, Farr acquired 12 Ford Motor Dealership. By 1988, Farr was reported to have the largest African American business in the United States. Eventually, his business was forced to liquidate due to financial mismanagement issues.
Linda's daughter is Alexa Rice.
Have no idea what Alexa is doing right now. She may be in the arts.
Although Linda Johnson Rice tried to navigate Johnson Publishing Company into the digital age, in the end, the business has been forced into bankruptcy, which is a sad end to John H. Johnson's media legacy.
Many of you wanted an example of a successful black family that "looks" like you. Well, this family was it. John Johnson, despite his humble Arkansas roots, made himself the most wealthiest and powerful black man during his lifetime in our country.
Fun Fact: He was arch enemies with New York's Reginald F. Lewis, who became the first black billionaire in the country and usurped Johnson on the Forbes 400. Out of spite, John H. Johnson never featured Reginald Lewis in either Ebony or Jet magazines.
The Johnson / Lewis feud kicked off a competitive rivalry between elite black families from Chicago and New York.
I may be biased but Chicago probably has produced the most successful black families.
Does anyone know whatever happened to the families of major number runners from the early to mid 1900s like Bumpy Johnson, Queen St. Claire, Teddy Roe, etc did any of their money ever make it far
Does anyone know whatever happened to the families of major number runners from the early to mid 1900s like Bumpy Johnson, Queen St. Claire, Teddy Roe, etc did any of their money ever make it far
I’m not sure who these folks are but it’s well known that many of the most snobbish black families got their start running numbers or selling booze and then purchased a business or real estate to clean up the money. It be the families that be trying to hard.
Although Linda Johnson Rice tried to navigate Johnson Publishing Company into the digital age, in the end, the business has been forced into bankruptcy, which is a sad end to John H. Johnson's media legacy.
Many of you wanted an example of a successful black family that "looks" like you. Well, this family was it. John Johnson, despite his humble Arkansas roots, made himself the most wealthiest and powerful black man during his lifetime in our country.
Fun Fact: He was arch enemies with New York's Reginald F. Lewis, who became the first black billionaire in the country and usurped Johnson on the Forbes 400. Out of spite, John H. Johnson never featured Reginald Lewis in either Ebony or Jet magazines.
The Johnson / Lewis feud kicked off a competitive rivalry between elite black families from Chicago and New York.
I may be biased but Chicago probably has produced the most successful black families.
EXCELLENT post. I'm just gonna focus on the last 4 points.
Linda ran the company into the ground. Perhaps she was blocked by the other Black media giants that emerged (BET-Robert Johnson & Oprah) but the transition into digital and TV should have occurred 20 years ago. Ebony/Jet showcase aired in major Black tv markets when her father was alive. I always thought that BET blocked what would have been a natural expansion by the Ebony brand. If anything, I thought JJ would have beef with RJ.
This is the TLR section of the Coli, so some will find a reason to discredit Mr. Johnson's accomplishments, even though he was self-made and "looked" like most of us.
The beef with Lewis over being eclipsed is HILARIOUS. Now that you mentioned it, I don't recall any Ebony articles about the man who was legitimately the biggest business success in Black history(USA).
Robert Johnson and Reginald Lewis were both Kappas, so that had to have burned John Johnson even more
Would love to see a doc. about Black Chicago. The integral role that city played in the history of AAs is overlooked.I think when it comes to wealthy Black families, NYC area might have an edge. Both cities have old money families, but I think there's a greater number of newer families that have made their money in the New York metro area.
EXCELLENT post. I'm just gonna focus on the last 4 points.
Linda ran the company into the ground. Perhaps she was blocked by the other Black media giants that emerged (BET-Robert Johnson & Oprah) but the transition into digital and TV should have occurred 20 years ago. Ebony/Jet showcase aired in major Black tv markets when her father was alive. I always thought that BET blocked what would have been a natural expansion by the Ebony brand. If anything, I thought JJ would have beef with RJ.
This is the TLR section of the Coli, so some will find a reason to discredit Mr. Johnson's accomplishments, even though he was self-made and "looked" like most of us.
The beef with Lewis over being eclipsed is HILARIOUS. Now that you mentioned it, I don't recall any Ebony articles about the man who was legitimately the biggest business success in Black history(USA).
BREH! When I tell you their high level beefs are HILARIOUS!
I sop it all up.
A couple of things I want to speak on as it relates to the Johnsons and some old school beefs they had, the effects of which, have just recently re-reared their head in CURRENT politics.
1) Chicago’s society blacks had a love/hate relationship with Johnson. Johnson did not look like them or come from the traditional talented tenth background, so there was this sorta reticence, but, on the other hand, John was supported by many of the big names from the establishment families, especially those affiliated with Supreme Life, which is where he got his start, and was taken under the wing by men like Harry Pace (who I posted), Truman Gibson (who was originally from Atlanta and got his start at Atlanta Life under the tutelage of black millionaire Alonzo Herndon), and Earl dikkerson (dikkerson’s daughter is the girl on the green jet magazine cover I posted a few post up(dikkerson was the black attorney that helped strike down Chicago’s restrictive housing laws that Ta-Nehisi Coates talked about in his article “The Case for Reparations”)) who were important businessmen at the time.
So there was this “understanding” that Johnson was embraced by a certain segment of black society. John knew this and because knowing he had the most powerful men in his corner he didn’t have to really pay deference to the rest of Chicago’s black elite. In fact, he regularly stunted on them which I think was revenge for being teased by them in high school. Many of them made fun of him because he was poor, country, and dark skin. I don’t think he ever forgot that. Success is the best revenge, right?
So there was this jealousy but many of the men from these families couldn’t do much because of their own people that supported him in his corner.
Breh, when I tell you Johnson regularly balled out on them with his soirées and connection and they would all come crawling to him to get a feature in his magazines. He controlled the media, so they were careful not to cross him.
Speaking of controlling the media - Reginald Lewis
2) The beef between Lewis and Johnson was epic. It was Tupac and Biggie before Tupac and Biggie.
You would be surprised, and this is actually sad if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s sorta funny, most black people, who were not in business, had not ever heard of Reginald Lewis. And it was because, before the internet, we learned about other successful blacks through Ebony and Jet magazine. And the Johnsons decided to never spotlight him. If we were to assess black history based on the Ebony archive, that man never existed.
I’m going to admit, Johnson was PETTY.
So when Lewis usurped him, that made him hot. I also think, by that time, Johnson had funnily enough viewed Lewis as being an upstart. I think the feeling was like “where did he come from and so quickly?” And as you mentioned, Lewis being a Kappa and coming from Harvard probably got under his skin since he was an Alpha who came from the University of Chicago.
The feud was such a sore spot that the family of Lewis even mentioned it in his bio stating that Johnson had called Lewis up and they got in some big nasty spat over the phone.
So needless to say, they never repaired that relationship and I think that just within a few years, Lewis had died.
To this day, there is only one reference to Lewis in Ebony. Within the last few years, Ebony had did a segment on women in tech. One of the women they spotlighted was Lewis’ daughter, who heads a non-profit aimed at getting more minorities kids into the tech industry. It was the first time they mentioned him stating that she was the daughter of Reginald Lewis, whom, at one point, owned the largest black-owned company in the 80’s. Dassit.
Some might ask if Johnson was really that jealous of Lewis essentially overtaking him in wealth and the truth of the matter is yes. LOG talked about it in his book. Chicago blacks have HNIC syndrome. They don’t like their spots at the top to be encroached upon. And when you look at Johnson, in relation to others like Jordan and Oprah, they were all blacks at the top of their respective industries nationwide. That’s for what black Chicago was known.
3) re: Johnson and Robert Johnson and Oprah. You would think there would have been some beef with Robert Johnson but I’m not really aware of any. In fact, when Johnson died, most of all of the media giants, including Robert Johnson, came out to his funeral and paid tributes.
With one exception. Oprah.
Now here is some chatty patty shyt.
There was beef between the Johnsons and Oprah. I have no idea what started it. Oprah was regularly featured on the cover of Ebony in the early 90s so their relationship must have soured at some point. But there were two things that pointed to some animosity. First, Oprah’s cousin came out years ago and essentially said that after telling Oprah that she was applying for a job at Ebony, Oprah told her that she did not like Linda Johnson Rice, and that she should come work for her. Second thing was from a source I got first hand.
^^^^^Cool Fact: This lady in yellow was a priest at my church and taught me how to waltz when I was an escort for a deb ball. Her family owned both a funeral home and currently one of the 12 last existing black owned banks in the United States.^^^^^^^^^
I was talking to a niece of hers from Cali a few years ago when she was in town visiting. Her niece attended USC with Linda Johnson Rice and they all ran in the same clique along with the daughter of a wealthy black LA businessman who had a business that was essentially a rival to Soft Sheen and Johnson Products (can’t remember his name or busines at the moment also Johnson Products is unrelated to Johnson Publishing). In fact, they were roommates and she told me that Rice would get chauffeured around campus in a limo.
Anyway, this niece, whom is very close to Linda, told me there was historical beef between the Johnsons and Oprah.
Their fallout was exacerbated when Oprah essentially snubbed John Johnson by not showing up to his funeral or releasing a statement on the man that pretty much paved her way in Chicago.
I remember this because this was the first time I had started to lose some respect for Oprah.
Everybody noticed the snub and Roland Martin, who was over the Chicago Defender at the time, wasn’t scared to call Oprah out on it, which is why, contrary to the Coli and TNs narrative of him, I’ve always fucced with Roland.
Roland essentially says that he reached out to Winfrey over a period of two weeks to get a comment from her and essentially her team hit him with the
Cause Oprah refused to speak on John Johnson.
So Roland published an article in the Defender calling her out saying that all the black media titans and even President Clinton was at Johnson’s funeral and she purposely snubbed it and immediately Oprah broke her silence and hit the and was like she was in Hawaii but sent flowers and a note, but come to find out, the Johnsons never received them, and that she was going to do a Johnson tribute on her show when she got back to Chicago.
She never did the tribute.
The most interesting thing about all of this though?
Who is one of Linda Johnson Rice’s best girlfriends?
Valerie Jarrett.
Do you remember when Oprah was campaigning hard for Obama?
Who was Obama’s closest advisor?
Valerie Jarrett.
Do you remember that at some point when they were on the campaign trail, the Obama’s started to distance themselves from Oprah even though she uncharacteristicly pulled her weight to help him secure the nomination?
”Ed Klein’s blockbuster new best-seller about President Barack Obama chronicles Obama’s shocking betrayal of Oprah Winfrey, disclosing how Oprah helped him win the presidency and then was “frozen out” of the White House after the election.
After Obama won the White House, Oprah was “largely frozen out of the White House” by senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Obama’s wife
Jarrett advised Michelle to “distance herself” from Oprah and cut her out of the White House inner circle, suggesting Oprah “didn’t know her place” or “was a bad influence.”
The night crawler strikes.
Paybacks a bish for snubbing her best girlfriend’s father.
Oprah mentions to Roland that she never got to meet John Johnson but respected him. How tf ya’ll never meet and pretty much lived right next door to each other for YEARS on the same block in the Gold Coast?
This plus this recent stuff Oprah pulled with MJ, I don’t fucc with her at all. I don’t deny her accomplishments, but she is as coarse as they come.
Would love to see a doc. about Black Chicago. The integral role that city played in the history of AAs is overlooked.I think when it comes to wealthy Black families, NYC area might have an edge. Both cities have old money families, but I think there's a greater number of newer families that have made their money in the New York metro area.
Oh definitely. In sheer numbers, New York would beat out Chicago easily just off of the size of the black population alone. My point, however, was pick out a successful New Yorker, and I can probably tell you a Chicago person that had reached a higher level of success in that industry.
Linda ran the company into the ground. Perhaps she was blocked by the other Black media giants that emerged (BET-Robert Johnson & Oprah) but the transition into digital and TV should have occurred 20 years ago.
I do think she tried. We all know that most paper publications struggled to make that transition. Some of her decisions were questionable, though. Like hiring Desiree Rogers as CEO. Not quite sure what the strategy was behind that or if the appointment was just done as a way to help her best friend save face after she dropped the ball as the White House Social Secretary? So there was just a series of questionable decision that she made and I’m just not sure if she had the right people on the Ebony board to help navigate the company successfully through the digital transition.
And yeah, I think Ebony TV would have been vastly superior to BET.
You guys have these in America too?
These are basically white people with blackish skin.
Leftover White people from older times, sure they may look black but........nahhhhhhh!
The patriarch of the family had a white slave owning grand father? Did I read that right?
We have them even here in Nigeria. You will find some rich high up families with last names like ''Rhodes Vivour'' and ''Caston Black'' and ''Brown'' and other weird white sounding names, a lot of them look high high yella to light brown. It is what it is.
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and was like she was in Hawaii but sent flowers and a note, but come to find out, the Johnsons never received them, and that she was going to do a Johnson tribute on her show when she got back to Chicago.
I'll have to look thru sometime... These posts are pretty dense.