Black World: The Publication

After working varied jobs for a few years, in 1942 with $500.00 derived from mortgaging his mother’s furniture, Johnson sold subscriptions and with the proceeds published Negro Digest (later renamed Black World). The format was copied from Reader’s Digest, a literary magazine. Three years later Johnson started Ebony, a magazine modeled after the successful pictorial publication, Life magazine. In 1951 Johnson began publishing Jet magazine, a weekly periodical that reported news and developments relevant to African Americans. To oversee his publications Johnson created Johnson Publishing Company in a small office in South Chicago and moved to a larger building in downtown Chicago in 1971. One year later the Magazine Publishers Association elected Johnson “Magazine Publisher of the Year.” In 1982, Johnson became the first African American to appear on Forbes list of wealthiest Americans. Johnson’s empire eventually combined publishing, cosmetics, and insurance. In 1996 President Bill Clinton awarded Johnson the Presidential Medal of Freedom. John H. Johnson was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.

One of the largest black-owned businesses in the United States, Johnson Publishing Company was a major producer of African American magazines that focused on the accomplishments of black Americans. Providing a much-needed forum for black Americans and with a national scope, these magazines explored issues, reported events, and discussed people as they related to the needs and concerns of black Americans. Johnson became involved in politics and the civil rights movement. He supported Martin Luther King, Jr., thoroughly reported civil rights efforts, befriended Jesse Jackson, and was a benefactor of Howard University. Johnson encouraged and applauded African American successes while reporting their problems. His life, as he viewed it, can be glimpsed in his best-selling autobiography, Succeeding Against the Odds.