Freedom is Not Free

This edition was published two years and one month before my birth. The Little Rock Nine (Ernest Green (b. 1941), Elizabeth Eckford (b. 1941), Jefferson Thomas (1942–2010), Terrence Roberts (b. 1941), Carlotta Walls LaNier (b. 1942), Minnijean Brown (b. 1941), Gloria Ray Karlmark (b. 1942), Thelma Mothershed (b. 1940), and Melba Pattillo Beals (b. 1941)) were the first African Americans to graduate from Central High School located in Little Rock Arkansas. The image of Elizabeth Eckford attempting to enter the school nine months earlier while death threats from white students are hurled at her is heartbreaking. Yet they endured! They were the tip of the spear for all.

Harry Belafonte passed away today. Most Americans probably know him for his acting and singing careers. But, he was a stalwart human rights activist. He joined Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and was one of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s closest confidants. Over his lifetime organized demonstrations and raised money to keep civil rights movement activities going.

Jet was founded in November 1951 by John H. Johnson of the Johnson Publishing Company in Chicago, Illinois. “The Weekly Negro News Magazine .” It chronicled the civil rights movement and the lives of African Americans from its start. All within a 6"x4" sized publication.

When you spent the weekend at my grandfather’s house, watchingTV was not an option. You could do your homework (which I somehow always seemed to forget). Your choices were reading (1) Ebony, (2) Jet Magazine, or the (3) LA Times. Maybe it was good that I left my homework.

Freedom is not Free