Political Quotes

“Jesse J. Lewis, Jr., a Birmingham, AL, advertising and public relations executive, passed away on February 26 after a tragic automobile accident. He was the president and chief executive officer of Jesse J. Lewis & Associates. His firm's clients included the State of Alabama, the city of Birmingham, the Birmingham Water Works Board, Midfield Dodge, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and the Jefferson County Citizens' Coalition. A native of Birmingham, Jesse Lewis, Jr., was one of the first blacks to attend the prestigious Indian Springs School in Pelham. He later graduated from John Carroll High School and Miles College. In 1980, he took over the advertising firm from his father, Jesse Lewis Sr., who is publisher of the Birmingham Times newspaper, former president of Lawson State Community College, and the first black this century appointed to an Alabama Governor's cabinet; he served as director of highway traffic and safety under former Gov. George Wallace. The firm was founded in 1952, and is one of the oldest black-owned advertising and public relations companies in the country. Jesse J. Lewis & Associates received the 1994 Travel Industry of America's Marketing and Promotion Creativity Award in the broadcast/radio category for an Alabama Bureau of Tourism commercial. Jesse, Jr. was also nominated for Business Person of the Year last year. He had a wide circle of friends crossing racial, economic, and social lines.”