JPC and the black world: company's magazines championed freedom of blacks at home and abroad - Johnson Publishing Co - Special Issue: 50 Years of JPC - JPC and the New World of Black America

Ebony, Nov, 1992

Fifty years ago, at the outset of Johnson Publishing Co., the only independent Black nations in Africa were Ethiopia and Liberia. The rest of the continent was teeming with millions struggling against their colonial masters and yearning to be free. The fledgling companys magazines wasted no time in joining that freedom struggle by chipping away at the stereotypical view of Africans and West Indians whom a racist White press had relegated to "Third World" status and characterized as childlike, primitive and incapable of self-rule. Today, with political freedom a reality in most of Africa and the Caribbean, many indigenous leaders credit JPC with consistently portraying them and their countries in a dignified and realistic light. In doing so, they say, EBONY and Jet have not only redefined Black America, but Blacks in other parts of the world as well.

JPC editors recognized early that the same yearning for freedom that triggered the Civil Rights Movement in the United States also unleased the Independence Movement that swept Africa and the Caribbean, and that each movement fueled the other. Consequently, no effort or expense was spared to report the progress of independence abroad, and to counter the stereotypical images of Blacks in the Diaspora with countless, meaningful articles about Africa, the cradle of all mankind, and its rich cultural heritage.

Thus EBONY and Jet readers were able to learn and be inspired by stories about Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, who defied the armies of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini; Africas Golden Age, featuring the ancient empires of Mali, Ghana and Songhay; independence sweeping Africa in the '60s, induding Ghana, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and Kenya, and most of the Caribbean nations. EBONY and Jet, in fact, reported every African independence celebration. Publisher John H. Johnson was an honored guest at the first big celebration in Ghana in 1957 and he was a member of the official U.S. delegations to the independence celebrations in Kenya and the Ivory Coast. One of the pioneer journalists was Era Bell Thompson, who visited several African countries and wrote the book, Africa, Land of My Fathers.

After most of Africa and the West Indies had thrown off the colonial yoke, JPC magazines continued their commitment to report on important events in the newly independent nations. When Ghana's Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah made good on his promise to build a new city Tema, and bring electricity to the country by harnessing the Volta River, EBoNy editors and photographers recorded the accomplishments. When one of the biggest cultural festivals, Festac, was staged in Lagos, Nigeria, EBONY editors and photographers were there. And an EBONY editor was on the steering committee of the huge North American delegation. When South African Blacks rejoiced over the release from prison of freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, the event was duly recorded in EBONY and Jet. When Namibia in 1990 became the last African country to win its freedom after 106 years of colonial rule, EBONY and Jet coverage gave their readers a ringside seat at the historic event. And when this year Michael Jackson toured Africa and the White press dismissed his visit as a "public relations disaster," EBONY and Jet were there to set the record straight.

With South Africa still ruled by a White minority, the struggle for freedom in Africa continues. So does Johnson Publishing Co.'s commitment to strengthen the bonds that link Black Americans and their brothers and sisters overseas.