Vision Circle

Flashback to '70s Gas Crisis

People are scared about the rise in gas prices so they go to the gas stations to fill up, otherwise, "prices will be higher or they will run out of gas!"

[Update] That's the same panic that happened during the Carter Nixon years when OPEC cut back in their production to cause an increase in gas prices.

During that summer, my friends and I laughed at the line of cars up and down the block. Some of us made money selling cups of water to the people waiting in the cars.

Fights broke out at gas stations. Gas stations ran out of gas. Lines of cars blocked street traffic. Some gas stations went out of business.

Today? Fights. Gas stations running out of gas. Lines of cars blocking traffic.

All I can do is shake my head and call the people fools.

History is repeating itself for other reasons, but it is still repeating itself.

John Johnson, Media Great, Has Passed

John Johnson, publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, has passed.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Magazine publisher John Johnson, who jolted the mostly black readers of Ebony and Jet with violent images that lent visibility and momentum to the civil rights movement, died on Monday, his office said.

A publicist at Johnson's Chicago-based publishing company would not immediately give a cause of death. He was 87.

A multimillionaire who in 1982 became the first black American to make Forbes' list of the richest Americans, Johnson said his magazine philosophy was to reflect the "happier side" of black American life, and that "deep down, at the end of the day, we're trying to give people hope."

My family members received both magazines; Jet and Ebony.

I remember reading about my first celebrety crush, Diahann Carroll, in Ebony.

I remember passing the time on Saturday in the barbor shop, reading Jet.

I liked Jet so much, I kept the subscription I was given as a gift, even in college. Someone in the first year dorm mailroom liked it as well. It was often late.

Ebony was said to be the "Black version of Life magazine". I think the mission was accomplished.

The man created a successful enterprise that will last beyond his passing. The man created a publication that gave Negroes the chance to see some of the positive and lighter side of the Negro life.

On the business side and the media side, job well done, sir.
Salute!

Historical Greats

All I have to say is, any historian who thinks that Reagan is the greatest American in history, is not a historian.

How can Reagan be greater than the "fathers of the U.S." who fought the British and then set up the country in the first place?

How can Reagan be greater than the president who got the country through the civil war?

How can Reagan be greater than the president who gave the order to drop the first atomic bomb?

16 Years ago Today...

Four men thoroughly immersed emerged through the other side of a tortuous process that taught them the importance of group cooperation, group initiative, and group loyalty. And the blessed nature of a beautiful sunlit day.

The strength of Omega Psi Phi lies in our unabashed blackness, and also in our representative nature. From the thugged out to the sublime...Omega represents the total spectrum of the African American male experience.

Often in the same Brother.

We are the Dogs of War, and the Sons of Blood and Thunder. The ones who'll smack you for spite, and uplift you when you're in need of a friend. 89 was a damn good year. There's no way in hell I'd be here without the Ques.

Deadly Sirius
1. Samuel D. Kirkland
2. Dr. Lester K. Spence
3. Darius V. McKinney
4. Glen B. Eden

4.18.89
Phi Chapter
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

The Other Side of Ossie Davis

My father told me that the Detroit News ran a story about Ossie Davis that reveals his more progressive side. Now most of us in the know KNEW a bit about this side. We knew for example, that Davis eulogized Malcolm X at his funeral ("he was our shining black prince", Davis noted). But this story gets a bit deeper. Earl if you're checking this out you should link this to your post. As an aside, I have written about Grace Boggs before. She's one of the last true revolutionaries left. Her Center is powerful and needs support.

On This Day....

My oldest son was born in 1998.

Also important though was the birth of the college sit-ins. What stands out in my eyes about the article was the hidden class transcript. Also interesting was the expectation of black professional complicity in racism. These students don't get half as much credit as they truly deserve.