CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 George E. Johnson Sr., a pioneer in Black hair care whose multimillion-dollar business was the first Black-owned company to be listed on the American Stock Exchange, has died at age 99, according to his family.<\/p>\n
Johnson died Monday at his home in downtown Chicago. A cause of death was not released.<\/p>\n
Johnson and his late wife and high school sweetheart, Joan, started Johnson Products in 1954 on Chicago\u2019s South Side after securing a $250 loan. It grew into a hair care empire catering almost exclusively to Black people, with brands like Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen.<\/p>\n
People who remember Afro Sheen and Ultra Sheen in their heyday also remember the brands\u2019 marketing campaigns and their association with the \u201cBlack is Beautiful\u201d movement, which promoted cultural and racial pride among Black people. The iconic 1970s commercials, which featured variations of the \u201cWatu Wazuri\u201d (\u201cBeautiful People\u201d) jingle, have enjoyed a resurgence on social media in recent years.<\/p>\n
The commercials aired primarily during the hit music-and-dance television show \u201cSoul Train,\u201d which his company was a national sponsor of and once owned. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a wonderful opportunity for Don Cornelius to be able to go national. He wouldn\u2019t have been able to do that without George Johnson\u2019s partnership,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cAnd so, to see it work out for everyone and for our community all together was part of his genius.\u201d<\/p>\n
A legacy worth celebrating <\/p>\n
During its annual gala in November, the Chicago Urban League celebrated Johnson as the Edwin C. \u201cBill\u201d Berry Civil Rights Award honoree, named for the League\u2019s iconic leader. Berry joined Johnson Products Company when he left the organization, according to Karen Freeman-Wilson, president and CEO of the Chicago Urban League. She said the honor was a full-circle moment for Johnson, who was a longtime board member. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust 12 or 14 days ago, he was standing with Barack Obama in the presidential library, dedicating a room for he and my mother,\u201d Eric George Johnson, the eldest of Johnson\u2019s four children, told The Associated Press. \u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful life to celebrate.\u201d <\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s trajectory started from humble beginnings. <\/p>\n
He was born in 1927 in Richton, Mississippi. Johnson\u2019s mother, Priscilla Dean Johnson, was just 18 when she left her husband, took her children to Chicago and found a job at a local hospital, said Hilary Beard, a Philadelphia-based author who worked with Johnson on his memoir. <\/p>\n
Their move occurred during what\u2019s known as the First Great Migration, between 1910 and 1940, when tens of thousands of southern Black people moved to northern and Midwestern cities for jobs and to escape racial oppression.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was just enough money for food, clothing and shelter, but not for anything extra,\u201d Beard said.<\/p>\n
Johnson and his older brother, John, would collect cigarette packages, peel out the aluminum linings, roll them into balls and sell them to people who collected junk for resale, Beard said. Johnson also shined shoes, cleared tables in eateries and set up pins in a bowling alley.<\/p>\n
A source of pride and inspiration<\/p>\n
As an adult, Johnson worked for the Black-owned Fuller Products Co. in Chicago. Beard said Johnson met a barber who was distraught because he couldn\u2019t convince Fuller to back a product he was developing that straightened men\u2019s hair. The drawback was the product burned the scalp.<\/p>\n
Johnson worked with Fuller\u2019s chemist to revamp the barber\u2019s formula and started his business after ultimately convincing a bank he needed a $250 loan to take his wife on a vacation, Beard said. That business would become Johnson Products.<\/p>\n
Johnson\u2019s company offered above-market salaries, profit-sharing for its workers, healthcare and other benefits at a time when many companies didn\u2019t provide such perks, Beard added. Johnson Products was sold in 1993 to a pharmaceutical firm in a deal worth more than $60 million.<\/p>\n
Johnson later founded Independence Bank and became the first Black person to serve on the board of directors of the Illinois electric utility Commonwealth Edison. The George E. Johnson Educational Fund awarded more than 1,000 college scholarships.<\/p>\n
John W. Rogers, the founder of Chicago-based Ariel Investments, remembers his father taking him to Independence Bank to open a checking account and being awed that Johnson owned it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was just so impressive to me that he would start the largest Black bank in the country\u201d which helped Black entrepreneurs, homeowners and anyone who needed assistance as they were building their lives, said Rogers, a mentee of Johnson.<\/p>\n
The Golden Rule<\/p>\n
Though Johnson is gone, the lessons he imparted continue to shape the family\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Eric Johnson, who served as CEO, left Johnson Products Company in 1992. He said he purchased Baldwin Ice Cream in 1997, intending to keep the company in the family for generations to come. Eric Johnson officially retired from Baldwin Richardson Foods on May 9 after successfully transitioning ownership to his daughters, Erin Tolefree and Cara Hughes. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe saw his children come along and be successful, and now his grandchildren being successful,\u201d Eric Johnson said. <\/p>\n
Eric Johnson isn\u2019t the only one who sees that legacy continuing. Rogers points to the company\u2019s third generation of leadership as evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cEric\u2019s positioned his kids who are now running the business day-to-day. So it\u2019s a third generation, which is remarkable. They\u2019re doing so well,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n