IMAGINATION 423to acknowledge his roots, he had passed along the craft of jewelry-making to his
son. Ben began executing his own designs in the new technique, and displaying
them at shows.
When his jewelry won popular success, Campbell began to further explore
his Native American roots. His commitment to his heritage led him into politics. He
was drafted in 1982 as a candidate for the Colorado state house of representatives,
and four years later was the only Native American elected to the U.S. House of
Representatives. In 1994 he became only the second Native American to be
elected to the U.S. Senate.
Campbell still designs his jewelry, and is one of the most popular artists in
the country Though the circumstances of his life presented him with a series of
situations in which Campbell was told to ignore or forget his aspirations, his
imagination allowed him to see possibility where others saw only limitation.
John H. Johnson is another who became a success because he wouldn't take
no for an answer. In 1939 Johnson was editor of "The Guardian, " the in-house
publication of Supreme Uberty, the largest life insurance firm in America targeted
to African Americans. In the publication, positive news items about Blacks were
reprinted for the edification of company employees.
Johnson came to see that what "The Guardian" did for the company's
employees was something that ought to be done for African Americans everywhere.
But the respected editor of The Crisis, the NMCP's magazine, told him, "Save
your money, young man. Save your energy Save yourself a lot of disappointment. "
A banker he approached for start-up capital told him, "Boy, we don't make loans
to colored people."
But Johnson's determination convinced executives at Supreme Uberty to
give him their mailing list of 20, 000 names. By November 1942, the first issue of
Negro Digest was on newsstands, featuring reprints of articles by the likes of Carl
Sandburg and the director of the NMCP.
Within a year, Negro Digest was carrying original articles by prominent
people of al/ colors, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. The success of Negro
Digest gave Johnson the money to pursue even bigger projects, including the
launch in 1945 of Ebony.