Good evening. Good evening to everyone. Thank you for coming. On behalf of our director and our staff i would like to welcome you to the institute of African American affairs at new york university. My name is joan harris and im the associate director here at the institute. Discussion is breaking the color barrier in Corporate America. It is based on the book, the real pepsi challenge by Stephanie Capparell. It is special to me personally and to the institute politically. Thanks to Stephanie Capparell , we can feel included about paying an overdue debt of gratitude. I would like to start by telling you how this came about. I am a native of philadelphia, pennsylvania. For years my godfather who lived in the about worked in new york city would drive me home to philadelphia on weekends to see my mother. My godfather is now long retired but during those years of trips i would listen to numerous ,tories about his work life what it was like to be one of the first black executives in a big corporation. He talked about the early days, back in the day, the days of segregation, of being a salesman in the south, how in those days all black people from the biggest named entertainers to the traveling salesman knew and respected each other. How the closest segregation and the need to stay with black families, there was a camaraderie in the black community that he says is missing today. He talked about the more recent past, how having worked hard to achieve within a company, he witnessed how many black executives are still given short shifts. Not given deserved promotions, fewer stock options, and basic opportunities than white counterparts. We might ask ourselves during the discussion if this is the challenge in the title of the book. January, before it was reviewed in the press, i heard just the tail end, a minute or minute and 30 seconds of a radio interview. The voices i heard, those of two gentlemen who stories are told in the book, those voices were instantly familiar to me, resonated with me. They were telling the same stories that i have been hearing for years and years from my godfather on trips home to philadelphia. Growing up in a tiny suburb of philadelphia one of the names heard in my family Social Circle was Harvey Russell. I didnt know who he was or what he had achieved. I just that he was held in high regard. Today i know that Harvey Russell was the first black american to earn the position of Vice President of a Major International company, pepsicola, the year was 1962. Today we are all conditioned by modern media equation of celebrity and fame with who is important and what is important. It is easy to forget, to overlook the history making heroism of thousands of unknown, quiet regular people. The socalled strivers of the black middle class. Without whom the Civil Rights Movement would not have been possible. 1940, seven years before Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball, a group of africanamerican businessman held change the face of american business, hired by pepsicola company in queens, among the first black americans to work at professional jobs in Corporate America and target black consumers as a distinct market. They chipped away at longstanding media stereotypes, they face down jim crow laws and fought to ensure africanamericans were recognized as both talented and valued customers. Their persistent fight pave the way for generations to come. Unsungthese 12 pioneers, heroes of the Civil Rights Movement lived to tell their story in the real pepsi challenge. We are honored to have one of them here tonight. Jean emmons and the author Stephanie Capparell. That book was awarded the National Press club media criticism award dinner articles on the media and africanamerican art and coulter have appeared in numerous publications. The new york times, washington post, essence, and architects. To begin our discussion and introduce our guests here is pamela newkirk. [applause] pamela good evening and thank you for being here. Thank you to our panelists who i will introduce. To my far right is stephanie l author of the real pepsi challenge. Marketplace the page editor for that paper. Leadershipor of lessons from the grant antarctic explorer. To my right is dr. Jean emmons, one of the pioneers at cap see the early 1950s. He has an interesting history we would hear about tonight. He holds an mba from the university of chicago which he earned in 1948, which was unheard of back then. He is going to talk to us about the rocky road to pepsi armed with an mda. After he left, he went on to earn a masters degree in education, landed a principals job, became dean of education at Ohio State University and earned his doctorate in education. Lets get started first with stephanie. Tell us what the pepsi challenge is and what led you to that challenge. Stephanie the challenge was finding the beginnings of the africanamerican pioneers in Corporate America. To not onlye was let them through the door but to find a way in which they could be integrated into the corporation as a whole. It was an experiment of course. An experiment that had a mixed results. Us what it was like going to pepsi at that early point where they were just beginning to diversify. First, tell us about the rocky road to pepsi, even with an mba. I had a very unusual experience. I grew up in a family, black family where my father was a waiter and my mother was a schoolteacher. We were always taught this is yours. , and the world is i always believed that. The only way that you fail if you decide youre going to, i went to a school that was all white, and a high school that was all black. I had some fantastic experiences at both places. I wanted to enter the field of business because my dad always said it is therefore you. If you dont get it it is your fault. I remember that i went to northwestern. To attend the university of chicago. I had an unusual experience. I went in august to apply for the fall quarter. To my amazement. Registrationed the in april. I talked to the young lady and she said do you think you can pass the test. I can ace any test you produce. She produced the test. I aced the test. It looks too good. We take another . I said yes. I aced that test. If you keep your mouth shut, i will see that you get into the university. Back in those days you could do things like that because there were not computers and whatnot. She slipped my name into the file. Get intoow i happen to the university of chicago. I never had a sponsor. I never had anyone to put their arms around me and tell me anything. Took what they said i would need to lead up to a degree. In finance. Egree i took courses. Things were rough in those days. Encourage me all the way. The tuition was more than his monthly ceremony salary. I dont how he did it but he always came up. When things were tough i went to work mopping floors in the evening and running the elevator , selling insurance for an Insurance Company called jackson mutual homicide. The secondr forget quarter the dean called me in. I made a be and to ds. He said with your record, i dont see how its possible you could make grades like this. He said nobody can do that here. He said i tell you what im going to do. If you quit your jobs and study hard we believed weve will lead you in, and not have to expel you. I didnt tell him i didnt quit the mopping job. I could get up early the next morning and go to class. My favorite lunch was tina butter on cornbread. But i ended up with honors. Pamela and you had your mba and you talked about how while your classmates were talking about all of the job interviews they were doing and all the calls they were getting from corporations, your phone wasnt ringing. Never rang. One day they were talking, did no,talk to general motors, about what. They are interviewing. And they are hiring. I said really . Make a long story short, i went. Ver he said what do you want. I said im here and im graduating. I have honors. I would like to be interviewed. They said they dont want anyone like you. It was really shocking because i wasnt prepared for that conversation. No, you must allow some of these people to talk with me. He said no, im not. Get out of here. Dont come back. You are messing up my program. I left there went to the chancellor of the university who pamela the head of the hutchins commission. Jean right. The secretary asked me how can i help you. I said i need to speak with the chancellor. She said what is the problem. I told her. She said wait a minute. She spoke with him. The next two minutes, he got up and came and said come into my office. He said i dont believe this is happening at this university. Well, it is. I believe that i could find employment and so myself. Platinum record in everything. So he said you will receive interviews. I received day or so a call for an interview. Mr. Calvin said i know what you did. Im going to fix you. I will get you. Interview. The one fellow told me i dont know if i should tell you this. If you ever mention it im three. He was from a firm i cant mention. He said mr. Calvin warned us you had gone to the chancellor, and losehe was maybe going to mov his job. And if he hired you he was going to see that you never got to the end and we would be fired. You will never be hired. That is the way it is. That is what happened. It was devastating. Tell usbefore pepsi, what you did and how the pepsi job came about. Jean there wasnt a job to be had anyplace. I was too black to be an executive. I was too educated tomorrow. I didnt know what i was going to do. In the meantime i met a person who was dean of the college of universityt southern. She offered me a job to be a professor. I went south and tots. I like the idea of Teaching College but i was nearly lynched twice because i didnt know how to behave myself in the south. I came back north. Still there was no opening. The University Still did not help me like they help in these days. I beheld a fellow i knew who a fellow wasay coming through from the pepsicola company and they were looking for men to join the crew of salesman. I was thrilled. Pamela he was africanamerican . Jean he was africanamerican. , bill payne, we were interviewed. There were 6070 fellows there. We made it. He only hired three. I was thrilled. I never believed anything like this would ever happen because i was so disillusioned. I had done everything i was supposed to do. There were no openings. Lo and behold after i signed up and was on my way to new york, the American Friends Service committee, back in those days they did a lot of work under the table to help African Americans to get positions and industries. Positionneered a interview with the Ford Motor Company. I was accepted into their program. Now i had a problem. I had accepted pepsicola and on the way in Ford Motor Company said you may come into our program. I decided to stick with pepsicola. I had made the promise and i was a person that once i promised, i fought to fulfill the promise. Me. Was a turning thing for from chicago we flew into new york and began a series of fantastic experiences under mr. Iyd, who was a fantastic man, met walter mack, the chief executive officer of pepsicola. Everything was wonderful. That is how it began. Pamela your book traces the targeting of blacks as a market, and also the targeting of african ancestor did americans. As employees. What about the promotion of blacks as executives at that time . It was quite rare to have any employees that were wearing a suit and tie and a company. Walter mack was a visionary for thinking through hires and as well as to target the markets. And was always a chance of a huge reaction. Any company seen as pandering to blacks, hiring them are selling to them could be the subject of a boycott. It was quite a big deal that these men gave them business cards and have them represent pepsicola company. America being very segregated in the 1940s, he never expected them to do more than sell to the africanamericans. That is what they did. Didnt really have an avenue for the higher echelons of the company. Alongere taking a seat the white salesman with not quite as good salaries but having similar jobs and treated with respect inside the company for the most part. Jean tell us about the Public Perception tell us about the Public Perception. I read about the way that black press in particular really cheered you on. Jean first the concept was fantastic. I want all of you to realize that under this american system of high segregation in the north created fine black neighborhoods that were selfsufficient. Having salesman of the same race to promote a product was the idea of genius, and helped pepsi rise from one rent to another. Subordinate had worked with mr. Mac, there is no telling what would have happened. It was fantastic. We were received as celebrities. Andould go into a community was great. We met everyone. The black community was so selfcontained you would have doctors, lawyers, dentists, barbers. Beauticians. Companies, gas stations. Everything you can think of. When i was assigned to columbus, ohio i thought it was a fantastic community. I was very successful. The schools were highly segregated. Elementaryur schools. Principle of the Junior High School was like a czar. That helped our cause. When you went into the community and he to, whatever you wanted. You can place a machine at the elementary schools. In those days we had separate ymcas. Time in thoserful days developing the concept of shifting your coke preference from coke cola to pepsicola. Nut. A i had pepsi all over the house. If i came into your house and you had cocacola, i went nuts. You had to have some pepsicola. We promoted and promoted. We also have black newspapers. They were powerful forces. Black ministers were powerful forces. I had a wonderful time. Operationgned to the that had its headquarters in columbus, ohio. Detroit, cleveland, youngstown, toledo, cincinnati, louisville, indianapolis. Populationsvy black with fine neighborhoods that were selfcontained. Just drivene cocacola out of business. But i had a man that was a former coke man brought into the company and he hated africanamericans. He thought we were next to nothing. Thatragedy of the thing is when the Center Office assigned ,ean ammons to this operation we were the first assignees because they thought we would do the type of job that would propel this operation to on thought of heights. It happened in chicago but it didnt happen in columbus, ohio theuse he let me know that nerve of them sending Something Like me into his office, and that is the relationship we had until i couldnt take it any longer. Left. I quit but i was really fired the day i walked in. I tried to call new york. They decentralize the operation. He became a Regional Sales force. A local bottler wanted to hire me. You will not believe this. Jewishal beidler was a fellow. He called me in his Office One Day and said let me tell you something. Do you know what your manager is doing . You tell me some things that were shocking. I went up to south bend and the Palmer Family and they told me the same thing. I said i cant believe this. He wouldnt let anyone go to detroit or cleveland. So i had to leave. That was my experience. Out therere there any is where you are being undermined or had roadblocks because of race . In the course of doing business elsewhere . Ohio, and indiana and kentucky, the acceptance was unbelievably high. I had a bad experience in louisville. The barber and district manager to support me and i wouldnt. Experiences. Ful sales one up that you could count. Pamela its interesting that you seem to be lamenting the end and it is one of those interesting paradoxes where others have noted that you had strong black institutions. You had vibrant black communities. Integration that has somehow hurt the africanamerican jean not somehow. Very much so. But you pay a price. I think everyone has a time. The time of highly segregated Northern Areas was possible at certain levels but not at the level that we were seeking that we talk about in the book. , there was anged vast change in the black communities and the collapse of black communities. It is witnessed by the School Systems when i was with pepsicola. The most Successful Schools in the hundreds and 40 School System of columbus, ohio or the black schools. All the tests, sats. Passed at a high level , and competed all the way academically. Now you see today, what has happened is we have tried thousands and thousands of programs and the community has collapsed. On the other hand, the audience sitting here is a recipient of the goodies that have come about because we cracked some very things and we looked at a great number of African Americans who have made their mark at higher levels. I am very worried. I came into your sitting and i saw very little black and appointment. Believe you me. Very little black and appointment. I am wondering where all of this will end. Magnificentlywing. The bottom is drowning out. Pamela stephanie, in your book you trace this integration in the pepsi company. Was it a brief shining moment of Diversity Efforts where you saw this negative this and team assembled and then it was dispersed . The segregation, it was heartbreaking to follow pepsi editorials about these gentlemen in the black press. People can be cynical today. Pepsi was going after the money of africanamericans. Are they supposed me happy for that. At the time they were. No one was recognizing them as consumers or employees. When you finally do recognize a group as a Consumer Stores follow. When stores follow jobs follow. They are recognized as va