White Children Need Black Heroes, Too

This morning I was reading an article in AARP Magazine about successful individuals who inspire others through their work, daily lives and participation in services organizations.  Among the likes of Clint Eastwood, Scott Hamilton, Raquel Welch, and Leeza Gibbons, featured profiles also included Lonnie Ali, Dr. Aida Giachello, Captain Richard Phillips, Lilly Ledbetter, Brenda Krause Eheart and radio personality Tom Joyner.  Tom is listed last here, but he is by no means the least.

Tom Joyner is a 60-year-old Dallas-based radio broadcaster, once known throughout the industry as “the hardest-working man in radio.”  This title is because at one time he was doing daily radio shows from both Dallas and Chicago, flying between the two cities each day.  Tom was born in Tuskegee, Alabama and is a graduate of Tuskegee University.  He is also a strong advocate for historically black colleges.  The Tuskegee connection — and the memories stirred reading about it — is the Tom Joyner connection to this posting.

At age 16 I began an off-and-on avocation in broadcast radio at station KBNO-FM, “high atop the Gulf Building in downtown Houston.”  Station manager Richard Kenyon took a liking to a kid who happened to be visiting that top floor one Saturday morning, and helped the staff of six move in equipment and set up the station.  After helping obtain the required FCC license, he hire me to work weekends.  FM radio was a new concept and most programming consisted of “elevator music”, with 1-1/2 minutes of prerecorded commercials — or “spots” — and station identification every 13-1/2 minutes.  The broadcast studio was operated by one person during each work shift.  There was no microphone, only taped music and commercial cartridges.  The broadcast operator’s on-air domain was a Gates studio console and buttons to be pushed as the format required.

Although I did off-air work for a couple of stations while in college, it was 1974 that I returned to “real radio” at KULF-AM, also in Houston, and actually became an on-air talk show host and began to make friends with other broadcasters.  One of those friends was Sam Putney, a young black newsman.  Sam and I would do some public affairs programs together and hired out as a dee-jay team for Christmas and New Year parties.  We spent a lot of time talking and listening to each other.

Once we discussed personal heroes, and how black athletes, at the time, were the only public heroes available to black children.  During one discussion, Sam was taken aback by my statement, “Black children need black heroes, but white children need black heroes, too.”  I went on to explain that I had four personal heroes whose work and life stories had a profound effect in shaping the direction of my life.  Two were Thomas Edison and Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain).  The other two were black men:  Booker T. Washington and George W. Carver.

Booker T. Washington was the founder of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University.  George W. Carver was it’s most famous professor and a renowned scientist who counted Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone among his friends and frequent visitors at Tuskegee.  Tuskegee was derived from Dr. Washington’s philosophy, “Cast down your bucket where you are.”  Dr. Carver tremendous success as a researcher and agricultural chemist was derived from his attempts to find the answer to the question “God, why am I here.”

Commercial mortar and pestle

In setting up his laboratory, George W. Carver had to be resourceful because of the lack of funding and used his ingenuity to turn ordinary items found at dumps and scrap heaps into instruments for scientific research.  One account describes how, needing a mortar and pestle for his laboratory, he fabricated one from a broken teacup and wooden rod.  In 1970, when I opened my company, Aquatech Laboratories, I found myself with the same need.  Remembering the story of the broken teacup, I followed Dr. Carver’s example and fabricated one in the same way.  It served me for many years, even though we had purchased one a few weeks later from a commercial laboratory supply.

During the first of my several visits to Tuskegee beginning in 1990, I visited the George W. Carver museum located on the campus.  As I reviewed the great man’s life work, the lessons learned from his biography — read also at the age of 16 — that had become part of my inspiration, became apparent.  Much of his personal equipment and artifacts were on display at the museum.

A docent noticed that I appeared to be looking for something in particular, and asked if she could help.  I explained that I was looking for the teacup mortar and pestle, but could not find it.  She explained that it had been broken years earlier, but then took me to a photograph of Dr. Carver in his laboratory.  She pointed to an object on the workbench in the photograph and asked, “Will that do for now?”

It was the teacup that so profoundly influenced my career choice and my life.

Before I leave at the end of each trip, I visit the graves of Dr. Washington and Dr. Carver — both are located on the campus out of respect, and offer up a prayer of thanks to God for these two black heroes who helped shape the life of this white child.

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For additional information, check out and read the biographies of Booker T. Washington and George W. Carver from your public library, or go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Carver

http://www.incwell.com/Biographies/Carver,GeorgeWashington.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_T._Washington

Recommended Small Business Magazines

With a full-spectrum of small business magazines to choose from, it’s often difficult to determine which has “meat” and delivers the goods for your money, and which doesn’t measure up.  My interest lies with the ones that will offer benefit those engaged in the ownership and operation of a small business.  Mine will always be a small business, regardless of its size, number of employees, or annual revenues.  The small business vision is what keeps it personal, keeps it responsive, and keeps it profitable.

Many small business publications are actually fronts for franchising organizations, or attempt to push technology where a note pad, telephone, and adding machine will suffice just fine, thank you.  Several approach content from the perspective that a “small business” is one with at least $10 million in annual revenues and have a complicated organizational structure.  Their articles read like a Fortune 500 business plan, and the people they write about are business celebrities.  In short, these are either too boringly technical, or read like a “People Magazine: Millionaire’s Edition!”

There are three publications, however, that are highly recommended for inclusion in everyone’s business subscription list:

Forbes (www.forbes.com). While this is reputed to be a periodical for the very wealthy, it is full of just plain ‘ol business common sense, facts and comments for those engaged in business of all sizes and at any level.  Content is written in a highly personal style by experts.  When read over coffee or tea, one feels that they are sitting across from the author and “talking business.”  I have been a Forbes reader since the days of Malcolm Forbes and regard each issue as yet another course of study in my life-long business education.

Inc. (www.inc.com). My introduction to Inc magazine was on an airline flight between Houston and Dallas, when I read it’s very first issue, which had been left in the seat pocket by another passenger.  The issue contained one of those annoying subscription cards, but I was impressed enough to mail in the card and was a loyal subscriber for the duration.  This had to be at least for the past thirty years or so!

Inc offered sort of a ”hands-on” guidebook for business by chronicling ongoing case studies of innovative people, their business start-ups, their successes and — in some cases — their failures.  Readers were able to follow, in real-time, the lives of so many from their first garage shop, kiosk, or storefront to wherever their business destiny turned out to be.  Some still continue to be covered to this day and some, such as Norm Brodsky, are now regular contributors and continue to share their experiences as mentors-in-print.

In all fairness, I must disclose that I recently allowed my Inc subscription to expire and am deliberating whether or not I want to renew it.  There is nothing wrong with the magazine and I cannot praise it enough.  The problem is that it has remained youthful and energetic while I, at age 63, have become old.  I find that I no longer identify with the new generation of entrepreneurs (I hate that word…it’s so pretentious sounding) or their product/service offerings.  Also, there is the sting of recognition that I have become too old to duplicate their accomplishments!  To do so would take a youthful energy and vision that, sadly, I no longer possess.

Still, if you are under the age of 55, Inc magazine remains a must-read for every business person.

Finally, there is Entrepreneur (www.entrepreneur.com). This magazine is a relative newcomer to my reading list.  How long it has been published is unknown to me.  I spotted my first issue on a newstand in 2006, bought it, and a few weeks later began my subscription.  Although many of its articles deal with youthful entrepreneurs, this magazine is sort of “Inc with a wider age-appeal spectrum.”  In reading it, I feel as though I am being coached and encouraged, rather than being left behind by all the young whippersnappers chronicled in today’s more youthful Inc.

There you have three recommendations.  You would be best served by subscriptions to all three, but at a minimum you should read at least two of the three.  As you read, you will find yourself in the company of good, old and trusted friends for a lifetime.