Game-changers and Changing the Game
Barbara Gardner Proctor was born in 1932 in Black Mountain, North Carolina. With a background in English, psychology, and sociology, she built an outstanding career in advertising. Starting off writing album liner notes for VeeJay Records and freelance writing as a jazz critic, Proctor (still Gardner at the time) went on to win back-to-back titles of Chicago Advertising Woman of the Year and American Ad Fed’s Advertising Person of the Year, but not before bringing The Beatles to the States in 1962 for the first time. Safe to say, she saw a little success in her years and the impact of her career transcended what we might expect of your typical ad executive.
Caroline Robinson Jones was born in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1942. After graduating from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and working for J. Walter Thompson and BBDO among others, Jones went on to further make her mark by founding some of the first minority-focused and -driven shops in the industry. She paved the way for many who came after her.
Carol H. Williams, founder of the agency of the same name, has been in the advertising industry for over five decades and continues to leave an indelible impression. When you’ve been inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame, honestly, where do you go from there? She added that feather to her already impressive cap in 2017 and the accolades are still coming. In September of 2020, the proven and well-decorated pioneer received Ad Age’s Vanguard Award and was heralded yet again as one of this century’s Women to Watch. At a time when some may be flaming out, she continues to blaze her quintessential trail with no end in sight.
Four-time author, Dr. Joel P. Martin, may be best described as a force in personal transformation, diversity and inclusion, and visionary leadership development. She is the founder of the Positively Powerful Woman Awards, has received recognition from the NAACP, and was one of the first women in advertising to own a full-service agency specializing in speaking to women and people of color.
All four women showcased here are visionaries whose legacies and landmark accomplishments live on. We are grateful for them and will do our part to honor their work and make the advertising world and the world at-large a more open, kind, inclusive place.
It’s important and noble of people, brands, and institutions to take time out to recognize Black leaders and pioneers of industry during the month of February and exemplary women during the month of March. We are pleased and compelled to do so. But it also calls into question the limits of being intentional about these celebrations for a mere 28 or 31 days.
There are arguments both for and against Black History Month, from within and outside of the Black community. On one hand, there is a need to continue to push for recognition for communities of color because, in the absence of such intentionality, in many places, there is no acknowledgement at all. History is taught in schools but mainly through a White male lens, leaving large gaps and limiting the breadth of accomplishments of many other groups.
On the other hand, the notion of dedicating a single month out of twelve where we get to engage in learning and paying deep respect to Black icons, tastemakers, celebrities, and vanguards is a bit of a letdown—some might even say, a slap in the face, especially as we’re reminded that it is the coldest, shortest month. Black history is, indeed, history. Black excellence is, indeed, excellence. Black accomplishments, in their most simple form, are accomplishments, ultimately affecting the lives of all people every single day.
So then the question becomes, how do we take what we have now and build on it? If we were to do away with Black History Month altogether, what would that look like? If we were to keep things as they are, how do we cultivate a culture where we can celebrate anyone on any given day of the year and have that person heralded for their accomplishments unconditionally?
Barbara Gardner Proctor, Caroline Robinson Jones, Carol H. Williams, and Dr. Joel P. Martin share at least three things in common. They are all Black. They are all women. And, in some cases posthumously, they are all extraordinary. The combined accomplishments of these four tenacious firebrands are immeasurable. They are giants in their fields, having shattered ceilings and carved inroads for people of color, women, and beyond. Their work and fortitude reshaped and continues to shape the way brands engage with their audiences and the way all people engage with one another in and out of professional settings. While we take this time to acknowledge their impact, we, too, will try to lead by example, finding reason 365 days a year to celebrate human perseverance and ingenuity, applying labels to it in ways that move us forward and don’t hold us back.