Happy New Year's All!!
I wanted to go to church to bring in 2010; sadly, because of my not having a car, I wasn't able to go but brought in the year quietly amid a lot of guns shooting. another reason for not going out is that too many folks start shooting as well. so, I believe I want to start a tradition for ladies at New Years where we have a New Years night to bring in on our own. I believe I'm going to start that. We'll see.
I was remarking on how it was nice to know that no one has passed this year and all, but sadly that wasn't the case at all. I was doing some looking on Essence and an item on Ebony co founder Eunice Johnson caught my eye. all of a sudden, I felt sad. I didn't see the whole headline so I went on Ebony Jet's website to confirm and indeed, it did confirm her passing. So, knowing that the word didn't get around, I put up on my Twitter and Facebook pages that she passed and left a word of condolences on Ebony's Facebook page. I even erased my former blurb on Facebook because I remembered she was a native of Selma, Alabama, and had to give credit where credit is due. She was 93;
While it is sad to see someone so accomplished die, one can also feel glad that while she lived, she did many notable things, it is also a fact of life that there is an end of the road. So I want to mention the accomplishments of this woman as well as her husband. Granted, they were part of another era where if you struck out on something, you made it happen to the best of your ability. Now, I am sure Mrs Johnson could have pooh poohed Mr Johnson and told him NOT to start no magazine catering to African Americans. Not to go to his boss, Mr Harry Pace of the Supreme Life Insurance Company and asked for the names of his insurers so they can be part of this new endeavor. Yet, she stuck by her husband and with the help of his mother's love and furniture, which he borrowed $500 against, he started the Negro Digest in 1942. His wife and mother was his staff when he first started and with the first set of subscriptions and help, he was able to have a legacy that is still alive today. Now, I say that to say this. I hear women talk about having someone in their life. all well and good. But how can you say that you won't support him in an endeavor you think a total waste of time. I just finished Zane's latest, "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and the hero in the book started an online dating service for brothers that the wife felt was a total waste of time. When he got injured and he started another online dating service for those with disabilities, she got even more vocal that she dogged him out further and had an affair with someone else. He ended up leaving her and eventually got with a woman more supportive of his endeavors. I say that to say this. If you want someone, you have to love them; if they have kids, love them too. don't holler you love someone and then you take his kids with your kids somewhere, and you want to give to your kids and not to his and those kids see that and feel bad. To me, that is not good at all; My mother met my father with two kids, my eldest brother and sister, Alvin and Agnes. When my father decided to buy us encyclopedias, and they cost too, he bought TWO sets. one for my brother and I, as well as one for my brother and sister since they lived with their mother. When he got a hold of some books noting the accomplishments of African Americans from the time they got to these shores until present time, he got TWO sets. I am proud to say that the books are still in our possessions to this day. My siblings and I loved them books and my eldest sister who is no longer living, adored them. When they bought clothes, she bought clothes for them too. If we went out as a family, they went too. Wasn't nothing hidden from them. My mother even remarked that when she took my youngest brother George to Dominica so that they could help with his asthma, she wanted to take my eldest brother Alvin too but felt his mom would object. with all that said, you get my point. You support your man and his things and vice versa. Now that don't mean if he do something illegal, go along. No hit the road, and let me mention two more names. Barack and Michelle. It is no secret that she supported this man. To be honest, when she met him, she was his superior at work. She could have said the man ain't nothing but a scrub, and she wasn't paying him any attention like that, but sometimes you dig a little deeper and see the good and go with that. Now, this lady made very good money on her own. Personally as a woman, I feel for her because I feel a woman should have her own nest egg married or not. Yet in spite of that, she is the First Lady of the USA. So my point, support your man.
Now Mrs Johnson could have told Mr Johnson not to do this. But thank God she didn't because Ebony and Jet has been a part of African American homes for over half a century. I don't think there is an African American that hasn't been touched by Ebony. And let me go further. After Ebony was established and she saw that there was no one celebrating the beauty of the black woman, she went to Paris and Italy and established relations with haute couture designers and got them to sell her their clothes and the Ebony Fashion Fair, which is still in existence was born. I was proud to have gone to one show while stationed in Delaware. Check out Ebony and Jet's webpage www.ebonyjet.com to leave your condolences. as well as EbonyJet's facebook page and check back in time with www.legacy.com which will put up a guest book for those who wish to leave word for the family there as well. Be blessed and do something great in this new year. If you have a mate who is trying to make a go of something, support him; If your man and you have a mate likewise, support her too. Peace.
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