Another issue completed. Thank Goddness. Its challenging trying to get this paper up an running like it should be. Its like people dont understand what a black newspaper is and the importance of one. Sometimes when I am out selling the paper or talking to people about our vision for it, I wonder whether I speaking a foreign language or whether black people really are as smart as I thought they were. I am not being sarcastic either. I have a strong southern draw because I am from Atlanta and we are very country and ghetto. I actually leave meetings with people who I am talking about the paper too, and go home and tape record myself to see if maybe they dont understand me because of the way I talk. So maybe if I write it in laymans terms it will go over better, so here goes. This is an African - American, or Black or Negro or Minority or whatever your word for non-white, magazine. Our goal is to highlight whats going on in our community, because currently, no such medium exist. You’ve got papers like the tribune or the urban journal, but they cover a much older secment of the community. No slight against them (although it will be probably taken as such) but this city is changing, without media to reflect that, people will not know what is going on and how to become apart of that change.
So that is what this is. Now let me explain to you why it is needed. If you have a black business, how do you expect to get customers if you dont advertise. It baffles me how many people I meet that tell me they have there own business and then I tell them to invest $100 in an ad and they are like, they don’t have it? Im lost black people. People pay $100 to get there hair done. To buy a pair a sneakers, to buy a new shirt. You really don’t have $100 to invest in your “so-called” business. And for a small business, investing in radio or television is much to expensive.
So we created this paper as a low cost mechanism to get peoples products in from of alot of people. Another reason this paper is needed is because how else are you going to find out whats going on in the city. Your not going to find out by listening to the radio because the market doesn’t follow the radio they follow promoters. And most promoters don’t use the radio unless its something big happening. So most weekends you just sit at home thinking there is nothing going on waiting for your friends to tell you about an event they heard somet people talking about thats been going on for years, and you didnt even know. You can pick up a copy of the scene or the metro mix, but if you go to anything in any of those publications, you will not see any black people there. Unless Earthquake is at Zanies or something. This is no slight against them either because there paper is developed to serve there audience which is predomitely white. So do you understand yet. They produce a paper to serve a white audience. We produce a paper to serve a black audience. People advertise in there paper to get in front of a white audience. People advertise in our paper to get in front of a black audience. Its not racism. Its just a cultural difference.
Please support. It seems like when someone makes an appeal for support it seems needy. This is not a need based plea for support. We created this paper to help you. Everytime your product or story or business is not in an issue, you miss an inexpensive and effective way to let people know who you are. My staff has to argue with me constantly to put it out because personally I would rather not and save our companies money. But they wine to me how its needed and this and that. And I always rebuttle, it may be, but if people cant understand why they need it, whats the point. How many more do we have to print before you get it.

We're back. This time, it's for good. We're hungry for a resource that is holistic, relevant, up-to-date and that will continue to stimulate not only our social selves, but our intellectual, financial, spiritual and civic responsible selves. We know you are too. Our commitment to you is to consistently attempt to quench a portion of hunger—one story, one picture, one feature, one tidbit of information at a time.

We deem this issue, Summer Stimulus Kickoff. Much has been and is to be said about how badly we as a people and we as a community need positive stimulation. Our economy is shot and everyday so are too many of our people. Our education systems are failing to prepare our students to compete in the global workplace. And even those who are "equipped" have no jobs to go to and no credit availability to create their own businesses. Job security is an oxy moron and almost as dismal as the inevitable state of social security. Our families, however family is defined, are falling apart. Our government is divided to the point of almost self destruction. Things seem a bit rocky right now.

However, in our collective voice and fervent desire to birth change and mobility for our community toward all that is better and greater, we hear and experience limitless possibilities and endless hope. StayOnTheGo wants to give that voice and that desire an avenue to and from you, to and from our community and to and from the world. We hope that you find something that will stimulate you in some way to keep moving forward.

No matter what, keep GOing.

Jessica L. Johnson

Editor-In-Chief

Labels: encouragment, return of stay on the go, summer stimulus