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Pioneer journalist leaves rich legacy to students
Photo By Curtis McDowell
Robert Johnson visited CAU last Spring
Diallo Marvel
Staff Writer
One of the most acclaimed
journalists of our time, Robert
Edward Johnson, died of cancer
on Dec. 27, 1995.
Johnson, 73, executive editor/
associate publisher of Jet
magazine, epitomized work ethic
and the old adage of pulling
oneself up by the bootstraps.
The pioneer journalist visited
Clark Atlanta University last
Spring as apart of the Division of
Communication Arts Journalism
Seminar.
Besides speaking on his career,
he urged students to abandon the
"hand-out mentality" prevalent
in the younger generation and to
strive for one’s goals as if life
depended on it.
“I was really impressed by his
story, and students could learn a
lot from him,” said James D.
McJunkins, assistant professor at
CAU.
Born in Montgomery, Ala..
Aug. 13,1922, Johnson conceded
Art Department
Continued from P2
much as they can for the
structural problems within the
department, but he said the rest
of the problems can only be
solved through relocation.
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The school proposed that the
Art as well as the Music
department be relocated to the
United Methodist Church on
Park Street with the stipulation
that they renovate it.
“It needs a million dollars.
With all renovation now, the
likelihood of that happening is
very small,” Hicky said.
Earvin said they are still
considering the church for
relocation. “We’re trying to
generate funds to operate it.”
Peters, who’s been with the
department since 1978, said she
treats the possibility of
relocating to the church as a
rumor.
“I have heard nothing official
and since nothing as materialize
I treat it as a rumor.”
Shabazz
Continued from PI
customary.
Nevertheless, Shabazz's
removal has sparked anger and
frustration, particularly from his
student.
that he always knew what he
wanted to be.
His ties to the black press were
extensive, stemming from his
delivering papers and selling
black dailies as a child. Early on,
Johnson exhibited the virtues of
a true leader. In high
school, he founded his own
newspaper, the WestField Trail
Blazer.
From there, Johnson went on
to Morehouse College, where he
studied under legendary educator
Benjamin E. Mays and beside
classmate Martin Luther King
Jr. Before he graduated in
1948, he assisted Morehouse’s
Maroon Tiger to earn the
Associated Collegiate Press’s
highest accolades.
After receiving his master’s
degree in journalism at the
University of Syracuse, Johnson
returned to the Jim Crow South
where he wrote for Atlanta Daily
World. While a reporter at the
paper, he challenged the white
press for ignoring and insulting
the issues and concerns of the
Black community.
In November of 1995, students
gathered to protest Shabazz's
removal before McPheeters
Dennis Hall.
Jasheed Fakhrid-Deen, one of
the organizers of the rally, was
involved in writing a pamphlet
that was distributed to the
students.
“Men like Dr. Shabazz pose a
threat to the agendas of those
who control our institutions and
try to determine our destinies,”
the pamphlet stated.
Soon after the protest, some
members of the department’s
faculty and staff signed a petition
denouncing the procedures taken
in the replacement of Shabazz.
The petition, submitted Nov.
22 1995, was addressed to CAU
board members, President
Thomas Cole Jr., Interim Vice-
President Kofi Bota and Dr.
Earvin.
It outlined the professors’
objections to being left out of a
decision-making process which
“prompted drastic changes” in
their department. A process
which goes against the
stipulations within the University
handbook, they added.
According to the student
handbook, all department or
program chairs are recommended
for appointment by the respective
school dean who shall seek
recommendations from the
departmental faculty and forward
“His passing was a great loss
to the journalism profession.
We’ve always missed him
here...He made an indelible mark
here,” said Portia Scott, editor of
for approval to the ProvostWice
President for Academic Affairs.
But, according to the petition,
this procedure was not followed.
As it states: “We believe that we
were disrespected, as a major
department of this University by
not been consulted about the
current changes made in our
department...We were not given
the right to vote on who will lead
our department as Chair.”
However, Dr. Earvin said the
proper procedures were
followed.
He said he spoke with senior
faculty regarding the rotation of
the chair and added some of the
faculty members’ opinion have
changed.
“They said they were mislead
and some of the faculty members
have withdrawn their names.”
The handbook also stated that
the chair may serve a required
term of three years.
Shabazz had already served
one term of three years and was
in his second year of another
term.
Earvin said the provision was
that, “The chair may be appointed
for three years. It never said they
were obligated to serve the full
three years.”
He said most chairs were
appointed each year for one year.
Professor Abdurrahman
Munajj, who since the end of last
semester no longer works in the
the Atlanta Daily World.
Johnson joined the Jet staff in
February of 1953, and covered
everything from the Emmett Till
lynching to the assassination of
department, said the
administration does not want
Shabazz in control.
“He is successful in bringing
out black mathematicians, this is
not appreciated in white
academia. Dr. Shabazz is a
Muslim, he’s not appreciated by
government at all.”
In addition, the contracts of
five professors, who Shabazz was
said to have brought in, were not
renewed last semester.
Munajj, who is now teaching
at Morehouse College, was one
of the five professors.
But Earvin said the five
professors, who only had
terminal degrees, could only have
year-to-year contracts as they
were term appointees. He said it
was in their best interest not to
provide them with another.
In total, the professors would
have been teaching at least 12
classes this semester.
However, Earvin said there
will be sufficient professors to
teach the classes. He said, “New
faculty were hired with doctoral
degrees to take over the classes."
But 21 classes were closed,
some of which were scheduled
to be taught by the five professors,
according to a CAU Spring
roster.
According to Dr.Alexander
Fluellen, who is now acting chair
of the department, some of those
classes were re-opened and only
JohnF.Kennedy. Along side ,/er
Publisher John H. Johnson,
Johnson was responsible for
turning Jet into a million copy
per week publication.
12 remain closed.
Shabazz has taught at various
colleges, including Tuskegee
University and Umin A! Qura
University in Makkah, Saudi
Arabia.
In 1993, he received one of his
field’s highest honors. The
world’s largest science
organization, the American
Association for the Advancement
of Science, awarded him its
mentor award for his work with
generations of Black students.
Ronald Grover Jr., a junior
and president of CAU
Mathematical Society club, said
Shabazz is an excellent teacher.
“He knows how to draw history
into math and to put complicated
things very simple.”
Fakhrid-Deen, a senior and
mathematics major, said Shabazz
wants to help students before the
changes in the department affect
them.
Shabazz—who is no stranger
to controversy—said the new
leadership wants to destroy his
progress.
According to a 1994 issue of
Cornell Magazine, in 1963
Shabazz was accused by then
Atlanta University president of
being a “communist.”
Shabazz said he left Atlanta
University that tyear because the
persecution made it difficult for
him to stay.
But this time, he said, “I’ll be
damned if I'll walk away.”