[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 158 (Thursday, November 15, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H8229-H8230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JET MAGAZINE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the 
50th anniversary of Jet Magazine and pay tribute to its founder, Mr. 
John H. Johnson.
  This month Jet Magazine, black America's number one weekly news 
magazine, turns 50 years old. Since 1951 Jet Magazine has provided a 
voice to and for African Americans and people of color. Jet Magazine 
has covered stories in black life that the mainstream press often 
ignores. From the civil rights movement to politics, music, the arts, 
and sports, Jet has always been there to give voice to ordinary people.
  Today, Jet Magazine currently enjoys a circulation of more than 
970,000 weekly and is international in its scope. The magazine has been 
successful because it speaks to and addresses issues that directly 
impact black America.
  As Jet Magazine celebrates its 50th anniversary, it does so in good 
financial shape. We know that behind every successful venture is a 
person with vision and a good work ethic. Well behind Jet Magazine is 
Mr. John H. Johnson, a man of integrity a man who believes that hard 
work, determination, dedication, and education allows one to rise above 
poverty and racism.
  Mr. Johnson's story is truly representative of one who has pulled 
himself up by his bootstraps. Born in Arkansas City, Arkansas, on the 
banks of the Mississippi River, he moved to Chicago when he was 15.
  As a young man, he spent 2 years on welfare while at DuSable High 
School. He often calls himself a welfare graduate. He noted that the 
days he spent on welfare were some of his darkest days, and his 
greatest goal was to get off, which he did.
  Mr. Johnson recalls that when, at the age of 24, he first tried to 
borrow money to start a magazine geared toward African American 
readers, a banker refused and called him a boy. However, he did not 
give up nor give in. He secured a $500 loan by using his mother's 
furniture as collateral.
  In 1942, he founded Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago and began 
production of the Negro Digest, later titled Black World. On November 
1, 1945, the first issue of Ebony hit the newsstands. With a monthly 
circulation of more than 2 million, Ebony is the largest African 
American-oriented magazine in the country.
  Mr. Johnson did not rest on his success, and in 1985 he started Ebony 
Man, which now has a circulation of 300,000, and he owns a 20 percent 
interest in Essence, his closest competitor.
  In the 1970s, Mr. Johnson branched into cosmetics, insurance, and 
other media. Today he owns Fashion Fair Cosmetics and Supreme Beauty 
Products. By all accounts, Mr. Johnson has risen above the obstacles of 
poverty and prejudice to become one of the most successful publishers 
and businessmen in history.
  On tomorrow, I shall introduce a resolution in the House so that all 
Members will have an opportunity to pay tribute to this outstanding 
American.
  He will be the first to tell us that he has not always enjoyed 
success. In fact, he started seven magazines, four of them failures. 
Mr. Johnson says that out of failure comes success. He instructs that 
one must always be willing to take the risk of failing in order to 
succeed.
  His unwavering spirit, tenacity, and persistence to succeed have not 
been his alone. Mr. Johnson credits his late mother, Mrs. Gertrude 
Johnson Williams, for much of his success. It was her nurturing, 
support, and guidance that planted the seeds for his success. He notes 
that she lived to see 30 years of his success.
  Additionally, he credits his wife of more than 50 years, Ms. Eunice 
Johnson, who is the producer and director of Ebony Fashion Fair, and 
his daughter, Linda Johnson Rice, who is the chief operating officer of 
Johnson Publishing Company.
  Additionally, no operation is successful only because of its 
leadership. Mr. Johnson has a team of over 2,600 employees who 
contribute to Johnson Publishing Company. Stellar among this group for 
many years was Mrs. Willie Miles Burns, a good friend of mine and Mr. 
Johnson's cousin, who for many years was vice president for 
circulation.
  As a result of Mr. Johnson's prowess, others have been able to let 
their lights of journalistic talent and management skills shine, 
individuals like associate publisher and executive editor emeritus 
Robert Johnson, who ran Jet for many years; and current senior editor, 
Sylvia P. Flanagan; managing editor Malcolm R. West; feature editor 
Clarence Waldron; Washington Bureau Chief Simeon Booker; West Coast 
Bureau Chief Aldore D. Collier, and many others who have helped to make 
the Johnson Publishing Company a team.

[[Page H8230]]

  Mr. Johnson, now 83, still works hard and has not missed a beat. He 
has received thousands of awards and accolades. Recently, he was the 
first African American to be inducted into the prestigious Arkansas 
Business Hall of Fame.
  Mr. Johnson and Ebony and Jet have all given African Americans, as 
well as much of the rest of the world, knowledge, insight, and 
understanding into the needs, hopes, and aspirations of the people.
  Mr. CLAY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer my congratulations to 
JET Magazine and its founder and publisher, John H. Johnson, on the 
50th anniversary of the world's leading Black weekly newsmagazine.
  John H. Johnson is the president of Johnson Publishing Company, the 
most prosperous African-American publishing empire in America. In 
addition to JET Magazine, his company also publishes Ebony, Black Star 
and JET Jr. magazines. Within the journalism industry, John H. Johnson 
is to publishing, what Berry Gordy of Motown is to the entertainment 
industry.
  John Johnson's journalistic dream began in Chicago in 1942. Back 
then, he was going to college and working part time for an insurance 
company, where he clipped articles concerning African-Americans out of 
newspapers and magazines. It was there that Johnson realized that the 
black community was lacking a publication similar to Life and Reader's 
Digest, so he set out to design a magazine that would cater 
specifically to the African-American community.
  To raise money to fund his project, Mr. Johnson's mother allowed him 
to use her furniture as collateral for a $500 loan. Johnson then 
developed a mailing list of 20,000 African-American households, whose 
names he had pulled from the insurance company's list of policyholders. 
With the money he had borrowed, Johnson sent letters to those on the 
list, in which he offered $2 subscriptions for his yet unpublished 
magazine. He received 3,000 replies and printed the first issue of his 
new magazine, Negro Digest, later to be renamed Black World, with only 
$6,000.
  Mr. Johnson began his second publication, Ebony, in 1945. Six years 
later, Johnson started JET Magazine, which today is his flagship 
publication. However, in the 1950's Johnson Publishing Company was not 
without problems. He had trouble getting mainstream sponsors to 
advertise, so Mr. Johnson decided to form his own company, called 
Beauty Salon, and advertised his own products in the pages of his 
publications. Johnson would later receive sponsorships from Zenith 
Radio and Chrysler after some coaxing.
  Today, JET Magazine has a weekly circulation of nearly 1 million. 
Over the last 50 years, JET Magazine has chronicled the important 
milestones in the lives of African-Americans, including desegregation, 
black migration from the South, the Civil Rights movement, our efforts 
to reduce poverty, and African-American advances in politics, the Arts 
and sports. It is America's preeminent publication on the Black 
experience.
  It is also worth noting that in 1995, Johnson Publishing Company 
expanded their operations into South Africa.
  Over the course of his illustrious publishing career, Mr. Johnson has 
received numerous awards for his outstanding achievements, including 
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Horatio Alger Award, the NAACP 
Springarn Medal, and the National Newspaper Publishers Association's 
Henry Johnson Fisher Award for outstanding contributions to publishing.
  The Johnson Publishing name is synonymous with achievement, wealth, 
staying power, vision and plain old common sense. So at this time, I 
want to congratulate and thank Mr. Johnson and JET Magazine for 50 
years of journalistic excellence.
  Mr. SCOTT. Mr. Speaker, today, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of 
Jet Magazine, and congratulate Mr. John H. Johnson and the Jet Magazine 
family on 50 outstanding years of covering African-American life.
  Both Ebony and Jet Magazine have meant a lot to African-Americans; it 
was a way for us to be connected as a community, at a time when there 
were few publications of widespread circulation devoted to African-
American life. Many of us can remember the first time we glimpsed Jet 
and Ebony in our family homes, and learned about current events, and 
the lives and achievements of our fellow African-American.
  The success and longevity of Ebony and Jet Magazine are due to the 
vision, hard work and perseverence of John H. Johnson, the publisher, 
chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Publishing Company.
  John Johnson began with a vision and an idea. When he was in his 
early 20's, he worked for the Supreme Liberty Life Insurance Company, 
then the largest African-American owned business in the North. One of 
John Johnson's jobs was to comb African-American newspapers and 
magazines from around the country, in order to brief the President of 
Supreme Liberty Life. John Johnson soon discovered that African-
Americans were hungry for news of their own community--news that was 
broader than what was reported in the predominantly white media of the 
time, and news that was not, as Mr. Johnson remarked, ``only in 
connection with a crime.''
  So in 1942 John Johnson founded Negro Digest. However, due to his 
humble roots, Mr. Johnson did not have the financial support necessary 
to support his new publication. At the time, mainstream banks did not 
commonly make loans to African-Americans, so John Johnson ended up 
borrowing $500 at the Citizens Loan Corporation, using his mother's 
furniture for collateral. The magazine quickly became successful.
  In 1945, John Johnson launched Ebony, modeling it after Life and Look 
magazines. Ebony started as a magazine about achievement and success. 
John Johnson realized the importance of African-Americans feeling good 
about themselves, and of their achievements in the context of American 
society. In his book, Succeeding Against the Odds, Mr. Johnson wrote 
that at the time, ``There was no consistent coverage of the human 
dimension of black Americans in Northern newspapers and magazines. It's 
hard to make people realize this, but blacks didn't get married on the 
society pages of major American dailies until the late sixties.''
  Jet Magazine followed in 1951, and continued John Johnson's vision of 
reporting about the people, history and current events of the African-
American community. For example, Jet Magazine's Ticker Tape column, 
authored by Simeon Booker, has been a consistent source of information 
about current events, and governmental and legislative decisions.
  Over the years, John Johnson has helped to present the news and 
interests of people of color virtually around the world. Today we 
salute him, and one of his flagship publications--Jet Magazine--for 
being part of our lives for 50 years. All of us look forward to another 
50 years of success, and of Ebony and Jet Magazine continuing to bring 
the news not only to all of us, but also to future generations.
  Mrs. MEEK of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join my colleagues 
in honoring Mr. John H. Johnson, Publisher and Chief Executive Officer 
of the Johnson Publishing Company on the 50th Anniversary of JET 
Magazine--Black America's leading weekly news magazine.
  Mr. Johnson is one of the true giants of the American business world, 
and the publishing industry. In November 1942, as a young visionary, he 
began publishing the Negro Digest with a $500 loan using his mother's 
furniture as collateral. Over the years he has built the privately held 
company into what is widely regarded as the world's largest Black-owned 
publishing company.
  Today, Johnson Publishing Company titles include: EBONY magazine, JET 
magazine, and EBONY magazine South Africa.
  EBONY magazine, with a monthly circulation of more than two million, 
is the largest African American oriented magazine in the country.
  Fifty years ago this month, Johnson Publishing introduced JET, a 
national weekly which now boasts a weekly circulation of nearly 1 
million. Since 1951, JET magazine has firmly established itself as 
Black America's weekly news magazine. It has done so, primarily, by 
covering stories about Black life often ignored by the mainstream 
press, in a timely and relevant manner.
  Johnson Publishing Company has provided thousands of opportunities 
for Black journalists to get their start and move to higher positions.
  Mr. Johnson is one of those special individuals in whom there exists 
not only an immense capacity for service, but also that touch of genius 
which everybody recognizes but no one can define. He is also a great 
man with a great big heart. Since 1958 he has donated more than $48 
million to charitable causes.
  So, to John H. Johnson I say thank you for your vision, your wisdom, 
and your example. Thank you for giving African Americans a voice in the 
publishing world, and congratulations on fifty years of publication of 
JET magazine.

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