US black publishing magnate dies

Johnson's daughter Linda is president of the publishing firm

The founder of a black publishing firm in the US that helped to change cultural and racial stereotypes after World War II has died aged 87.

John Johnson used a $500 loan secured on his mother's furniture to build a magazine empire that turned him into one of America's richest men.

His magazines Ebony and Jet were the first to positively portray black Americans in mass-market publications.

"A giant has gone to rest," said the Rev Jesse Jackson.

He said Johnson's magazines gave black Americans the first mirror to see themselves "as a people of dignity, a people with intelligence and beauty".

"John Johnson changed black America for the good and we are all indebted to his example," Rev Jackson added.

We run a lot of entertainment, but it's orange juice. If you look inside, there's always castor oil John Johnson

Johnson was born in Arkansas City, Arkansas, in 1918 and moved with his family to Chicago while a teenager.

While working for an insurance company, he borrowed $500 using his mother's furniture as collateral to start a black publishing business.

Brushing off criticism of the idea, he began Negro Digest - modelled on Reader's Digest - and offered discounted subscriptions to those on his insurance firm's mailing list.

He persuaded distributors his magazine was in demand by getting his co-workers to ask for it on news-stands in Chicago.

Emerging middle class

In 1942, Johnson launched Ebony - a magazine that borrowed the look of Life Magazine. Jet, a news weekly, began in 1951.

The magazines were among the first to show violent images that gave momentum to the civil rights movement, such as police beating black people and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.

John Johnson was one of the most influential US black leaders

But they also produced stories about black celebrities, gave hints on how to accumulate wealth and became something of a symbol for the emerging black middle class.

Johnson defended his magazines against claims they were lightweight.

In his 1989 autobiography, he said: "Whenever I got sick, my mother gave me castor oil. And I'd run and hide and squeal and holler.

"Finally she got smart. She gave it to me in orange juice. And it was more acceptable then.

"I tell people all the time, we run a lot of entertainment, but it's orange juice. If you look inside, there's always castor oil."

Johnson - who is survived by his wife and daughter - died of heart failure in hospital after a long illness, a spokeswoman at his Chicago-based publishing firm said.