Maddux Elementary School to host book presentation event

Authors to appear jointly on the iconic Johnson Publishers Book Tour

By ANGELA COURTNEY

John H. Johnson Museum

Friends of John H. Johnson Museum, curators of the life and legacy of John H. Johnson, today announced they will appear jointly with Lisa D. Brathwaite, author of Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair, Friday, April 19 at Maddux Elementary School, 2100 E. Barton Avenue, West Memphis, Ark.

Friends of the John H. Johnson released their debut children’s book, Johnny Was His Name: The Boy Who Grew Up To Become John H. Johnson on January 19, Johnson’s birthday. Brathwaite’s Miles of Style, her debut children’s picture book biography, was released on February 6 during Black History Month. Johnny Was His Name shares the story of a nine-yearold Johnny Johnson, as he lived with his mother and Arkansas City residents, on top of theArkansas City Levee for six weeks during the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927. It’s a story of a boy named Johnny Johnson before he would become John H. Johnson, the founder and publisher of Johnson Publishing Company and the iconic Ebony and Jet magazines.

Miles of Style spotlights the indomitable spirit of Eunice W. Johnson, the woman who brought contemporary fashion to Black America through Ebony magazine and its monthly Fashion Fair column. It shares the story of Mrs. Johnson’s youth and her legacy of the groundbreaking touring show, Ebony Fashion Fair. Her perseverance in the face of racism in the U.S. and her tenacity in acquiring show-stopping styles elevated her to a symbol of glamor and elegance in the Black community, and beyond. Attendees and readers witnessed a reflection of themselves in the Ebony Fashion Fair, a revolutionary extravaganza that ran

See BOOK TOUR, page A2

BRATHWAITE BOOK TOUR

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for decades and still resonates in recollections today.

“My journey with fashion, and Eunice W. Johnson started as little Lisa, flipping through the pages of EBONY from the stack on my family’s coffee table, and looking at the Fashion Fair models in all their posing glory,” says author Lisa D. Brathwaite. “The models on those pages looked like me, and gave me a confidence that served me well, opening doors to experiences I could not imagine. I look forward to paying the gift forward, sharing Miles of Style with the students of Maddox Elementary.” Miles of Style is available wherever books are sold, including Brave+Kind, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. For more information or to arrange an interview with Lisa D. Brathwaite, please contact Sacha Chadwick schadwick@leeandlow. com.

About the Author of Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair Lisa D. Brathwaite is a purveyor of creative self-expression. She loves playing dress-up (still!), her family, finding herself in art spaces, and writing whatever suits her in a given moment. Miles of Style: Eunice W. Johnson and the EBONY Fashion Fair is her debut children’s book. Lisa studied family and community development at the University of Maryland at College Park, graduating with a degree in Community Studies and a concentration in public policy and the Black community. She is a New Jersey native and has been designing her adult life in Atlanta, GA. Find out more at lisadbrathwaite.com.