![]() The kernel usually starts emotional and even angry before the narrative cleans up and moves across the spectrum into polite society where eventually even galleries and collectors become enthusiastic. We have tried to extend the impact of cultural protest to emphasise those artists and designers who go beyond mere representation and dare to discuss real solutions.Īnd even if the medium of protest expands in the age of social media, it should be recognized that rough skills as well as cheap accessible materials have always been at the core of protest art – posters then, memes now, photography then, NFTs now. In the new issue of DAMNº – The Art of Protest – we side with those creatives whose work bites deep, with those who use their craft to protest, and specifically with those who reach out to the public directly as collaborators in that fight against iniquity. To take one example, as of this writing, the most recent article posted under "politics" in Ebony was published in January of 2020 on Jet's website not one from 2020 appear at all.Dubbed the “first TikTok war” the current battle raging in Ukraine against Vladimir Putin’s reckless imperialism is taking advantage of user outrage.Īs British art critic John Bergen so poignantly said, “Protest and anger practically always derives from hope, and the shouting out against injustice is always in the hope of those injustices being somewhat corrected and a little more justice established.” And that’s just what we all want – TikTokers, magazine subscribers, TV addicts, artists, designers, and architects alike. Their digital incarnations are diminished from their 20th century print heyday in richness of imagery, depth of reporting, and sweep of coverage of the Black American landscape. But Jet and Ebony are unrecognizable these days. In the world of pre-internet Black magazine journalism, the Johnson publications were masters of the universe. In the end neither Johnson joined Syracuse's board. Johnson, the most important Black man in American publishing, as well as America’s wealthiest African American. I had never witnessed a Black man deny a white man anything. In the end, as great as associate publisher and executive editor of Jet magazine Robert E. I was so stunned by the remarks I don't remember the rest of the interaction. ![]() It was only then that I learned how the Black and white leaders had met previously. I mostly left the conversation to the power pair, providing support for the chancellor’s recruitment mission(and my suggestion).Ĭoping to succeed: I thought I never personally experienced racism. “I know him,” came the chancellor’s quick response.įor this meeting, Johnson's personal office of ostrich skin-paneled walls, wild animal pelts, marble, more hardwood was the venue. To his request for a name, I gave him John H. ![]() Eggers, who was white, accepted my recommendation to nominate more African Americans to join the university's board of trustees. Clash of the titansĪ few years later, then- Syracuse Chancellor Melvin A. 23-25, 1983, Coming Back Together weekend appeared in the days after the event, but, for some reason, the two-page Jet treatment had special meaning above all others. Despite my preparation, it was during that visit that I learned Bob Johnson earned a master’s degree at Syracuse. With that, he turned and left the details to Bob (who was unrelated to John Johnson). He introduced me to the executive editor of Jet, Bob Johnson, who loved Syracuse, and would cover the reunion. After all, football’s greatest, Jim Brown (‘57) basketball great and former Detroit mayor Dave Bing (‘66) Motown Productions President Suzanne DePasse (‘68) New York City’s WBLS radio late-night Quiet Storm legend Vaughn Harper (‘68) among many others, are all Syracuse alumni. together in 1955 at the Montgomery, Alabama, Bus Boycott. Hours of preparation, half of which occurred in a mirror, made me ready to sell the old lion on my publicity agenda. Check out some of the most iconic Ebony covers below: Ebony’s iconic photograph of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. Coverage from the Bibles of Black media America - Ebony and Jet - was crucial to its success. The historic Coming Back Together reunion weekend needed pre-publicity as well as on-site media coverage of what would become a triennial event. Moving on up: As a young Black man I grew up chasing Brooks Brothers' Ivy image - then I grew out of itĪs a vice president at Syracuse University in 1983, I was working with a team of alumni to deliver what came to be the first Black and Latinix reunion at SU or any white university. In the midst of personal and global realities - such as the killing of George Floyd - I am now reflecting on two 1980s pilgrimages, one successful, one not, I made to JPC in Chicago to call on John Johnson.
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