|
 The
Call & Post story is a fulfillment of the
American Dream. It is a story of a group of
dedicated people, working under difficulty,
trying circumstances, filling a need for a
hardworking community, and establishing and
growing a business that has become an
institution.
The
Call & Post story is a work still in
progress. It is a story of tribulations and
dreams – a story of strain and struggle –
a story of goals achieved and dreams still
waiting to be fulfilled.
It
is a story of people, a reflection of the men
and women who strive to serve their readers by
changing the social and economic environment
that affects their community. These newspaper
people are true Americans in their loyalties,
ambitions, education and standards of living.
In unison, they strive for a fair share of the
American Dream.
The
Call & Post story is a story of a people
on a mission, fighting for justice and
equality. With unwavering courage and
undiminished determination, the Call &
Post continues to fight ignorance, bigotry and
misunderstanding not only from outside the
Black community, but sometimes from within,
too.
The
story is one of a continuing fight to make
this society just and equitable for all.
The
Call & Post story began around 1916 on a
shoestring. Clevelander Garrett Morgan, who
earned worldwide fame as inventor of the gas
mask and the traffic light, and who also
invented hair straightener, pomade and other
“personal care products for colored people,
along with some investors began producing The
Call.
In
1929, the publication merged with The
Cleveland Post.
The combined paper, christened The Call
& Post, continued to flounder until
publisher Norman McGhee, a prominent attorney,
persuaded William Otis Walker to leave his job
as manager of a department store in Baltimore
to take over the paper.
When
Walker arrived in October 1932, he had to
subsidize the paper from his own savings to
keep it alive. But it was his presence that
began the era of progress. Walker birthed a
responsible and respected advocacy journal out
of the ashes of frustration and failure,
winning the newspaper respect and praise for
being an outspoken advocate against prejudice
and discrimination, and a willingness to fight
their battles for a fuller citizenship and
better way of life.
After
years of growth and leadership, Walker
realized the need for an orderly transition of
leadership and to make sure the object of a
lifelong affection would endure; Walker sold
the newspaper to a group of employees in a
leveraged buyout.
Contractually
obligated to maintain the organization as an
employee-owned enterprise, the group, which
included John Bustamante, Charles Loeb, W.
Harry Alexander, Eugene Ivey, Sarah Hopewell
and George Waller, took over management and
retained Walker as editor and publisher.
Upon
William Harry Alexander’s death in 1988,
being the sole remaining shareholder,
Bustamante and his sons took over leadership
of the paper.
In
1998, amidst a bidding contest with three
other Black-owned firms, boxing promoter and
Cleveland businessman Don King purchased the
assets of the paper, pulling it back from the
brink of bankruptcy and beginning a new era of
advocacy for not only Cleveland’s Black
community, but also those in Columbus,
Cincinnati and all over Ohio.
With
longtime media Jack of all trades John Lenear
leading the advertising department and
arranging the return of Connie Harper to take
over the editorial side of the Call &
Post, King brought in New York media
advertising executive Michael House to round
out a trio that lifted the paper to its feet
and restored its vocal leadership.
With
Lenear’s death in 2006 and House’s
departure for public service, Harper has been
joined by veteran Cleveland business executive
Glen Shumate to carry the Call & Post into
the future.
Today,
Walker’s legend continues at the Call &
Post. Its three editions are produced by
individuals who share the same dedicated
passion and forward thinking needed to
continue Walker’s legacy of excellence and
achievement.
*******
|
