They couldn't have a little kid occupying an important spot on the front row, so I sat in the back where all the models changed clothes. I remember vividly the rustling and the rush of the fabrics of the clothes and the swoosh of textures and color as they went by. I was in the back, but I had a front-row seat, in my opinion.

Fairness and equality means that what you are never limits who you can be. It means that a young African-American man like my father can start a business with $500 and a dream. It means that a young African-American woman like my mother can walk into European fashion houses with her head held high and be treated with respect.

The bitter might be just an initial reaction of, 'Oh my goodness, it's sold,' but not really understanding fully that I will be chairman emeritus of the new company, which is Ebony Media Operations. It is African-American led and owned, and I have a seat on the board, and I also have an equity position in the company, so I'm still there.

I think somebody's got to be cutting-edge. It just depends how you want to market your magazines and how big you want them to be. We look upon competition as what it is. It's there, you pay attention to it, but you don't live by it. You have to go on and grind it out day to day and do the best you can with your magazine every single day.

Almost 63 years ago, my father, John Johnson, named the publication 'Jet' because, as he said in the first issue, 'In the world today, everything is moving faster. There is more news and far less time to read it.' He could not have spoken truer words. We are not saying goodbye to 'Jet'; we are embracing the future as my father did in 1951.

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