In Celebration of Black History Month

BOSTON, February 22, 1999 -- Mr. Robert L. Johnson, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of BET Holdings II, one of the leading black-owned and operated media-entertainment companies in the United States, delivered the second annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture on February 5th, 1999 at Berklee College of Music, part of Berklee's Black History Month Celebration.

Jazz Is Universal

"I believe that jazz is universal," said Mr. Johnson, who has successfully maximized the power of television to re-ignite interest in jazz and to bring jazz back to young people. Mr. Johnson has given jazz "a place to grow," so that jazz may reach new audiences. The successful cable channel BET on Jazz continues to give the public the select opportunity to experience the "visuals of jazz" and well as the "audio of jazz." BET on Jazz tapes more jazz music that any other place in the country.

Mr. Johnson continues his commitment to advancing jazz music in the United States and around the world and to providing a venue for the cultural creativity of the African-American community.

In answering a few questions posed by the audience of Berklee students, faculty and invited guests, Mr. Johnson suggested that the next five years will present revolutionary ways of reaching new people, and encouraged students to learn as much about technology and legal issues in addition to knowledge of music. Mr. Johnson spoke about plans in the future to develop an online BET commerce site.

On behalf of Berklee, Lawrence McClellan, Jr., dean of the professional education division at Berklee, presented Mr. Johnson with a plaque in recognition of his outstanding contribution to contemporary music. Boston City Councillor Charles Yancey was also in attendance and presented Mr. Johnson with a proclamation which officially welcomed Mr. Johnson to the city of Boston.

BET Holdings II

BET Holdings, Inc. operates five major cable channels: Black Entertainment Television, a 24-hour programming service targeting African-American consumers that now reaches 55 million U.S. homes and more than 90 percent of all black cable households; BET On Jazz: The Cable Jazz Channel and BET On Jazz International, the 24-hour jazz programming services reaching more than 2 million domestic and 1 million international subscribers respectively; BET Movies, the first 24-hour, all black movie channel, and BET Action Pay-Per-View, a channel that reaches more than 10 million subscribers.

It was Johnson's mission when founding BET in 1980 to establish a valued consumer brand within the black marketplace. He has more than done so, and for two consecutive years has earned recognition from Forbes magazine as one of the "Best Small Companies In America."

Mr. Johnson has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the International Association of Jazz Educators President's Award, Broadcasting & Cable magazine's 1997 Hall of Fame Award, Cablevision magazine's 20/20 Vision Award, which lists him as one of the 20 most influential people in the cable industry, an NAACP Image Award, the National Women's Political Caucus' Good Guys Award, a Distinguished Alumni Award from Princeton University, and the President's Award from the National Cable Television Association.

He has served as Vice President of Government Relations for the National Cable Television Association and was Press Secretary for the Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy, Congressional Delegate from the District of Columbia. Mr. Johnson has held positions at the Washington Urban League and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. He serves on numerous boards including the United Negro College Fund, the American Film Institute, the Advertising Council, and the National Cable Television Association's Academy of Cable Programming.

Dr. Warrick L. Carter

The tradition of scholarly lectures as part of Black History Month Celebration was initiated by Dr. Warrick L. Carter, who served as dean of faculty and later as provost/vice present for academic affairs from 1984 to 1996 at Berklee. Dr. Carter worked with the Community Service program at Berklee to help serve the educational needs of the area black community, and his work contributed to diversity and the hiring of minorities and women at Berklee.

In appreciation and recognition of his many enduring contributions to Berklee, the Board of Trustees established the annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture Series as a integral highlight of Berklee's annual Black History Month Celebration.

Founded in 1945, Berklee College of Music has been advancing careers in contemporary music for more than 50 years. The world's largest independent college of music, Berklee has a multicultural enrollment of nearly 3,000 students, 40 percent of whom are international. The college's alumni include some of the most respected figures in contemporary music, including many multi-Grammy award winners.

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Media, for further information:
Emily Singer
Office of Public Information
Berklee College of Music
617-747-2567
esinger@berklee.edu