The Focus of Berry Gordy, Jr.

By W. F. Twyman, Jr.

Berry Gordy, Jr. - 1998

Born in 1929, the teenager was the descendant of American slaves but that was old history. He came of age in Detroit, Michigan. The strong father figure in his life was Berry Gordy, Sr., an entrepreneur, plasterer, contractor and owner of rental properties. My kind of people, the people who populated Twyman Road and Terminal Avenue and Hickory Hill. The teenager was also a high school dropout who believed he could get rich quick as a professional boxer.

It was not to be.

When boxing didn’t pan out, the young man turned to his love in life, songwriting and music. He loved jazz and records. He was in his element as he opened up a record store in 1953.

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Before I continue this story, you must know this young man came of a strong, singular family. More and more young black children should come of strong two-parent families. I feel it in my bones. If one would know any young man of ambition and high aim in life, I suggest one should understand this young man’s family:

Every now and then, one hears of a family which fits into the pattern of what most of us might call the ideal family. We admire such a family because it is a simple happy unit, because it has ideals and goals which it drives to reach; and because there is a bit of joy and wonder in observing such a family at work or at play. Today the modern family has lost a good deal of its prestige, mainly because most of its functions have been taken over by commercial interests. Too few families still serve as the center of interest and provide recreation for developing youngsters. In this fast-moving, mechanical world of ours, we find that mother is often released from her role as a mere housekeeper, which in some instances, means that children are left to thrive upon day-nursery affection until parents return at dusk.

This month, COLOR has a family you really should meet—the Gordy family of Detroit, Michigan. This family is different, exceptional, warm and friendly. Its members include Mr. and Mrs. Berry Gordy, Sr., and their eight children, Fuller, George, Berry Jr., Robert, Anna, Esther, Gwendolyn, and Loucye.

Here is a bird’s eye picture of the Gordys and their successes. Realtors…Grocers…Contractors (building)…Insurance Executive…Printers…Musicians…Boxers…Bowling Team…Expert horsemen. —Source: Color Magazine article, 1949.

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Back to our evening’s story.

The young man saw his record business start to boom. But he had gotten himself into too much debt to survive. He lost his money. He lost his brother George’s money. And he lost the money his father had borrowed from the church credit union. The sting of failure must have been unimaginable. The young man learned one lesson — he was more then ever determined to make his Dad proud. The young man was a Gordy.

Over time, the young man wrote more and more songs. He began to attract the attention of artists and singers in Detroit. Smokey Robinson became a close friend. Together, the two began producing hit songs. The more hits they made, the more attention they attracted from locals who wanted to make it big.

Smokey persuaded the young man that the two were sitting on top of something big. But where would the money come from to take things to the next level? The young man had gone bankrupt with the record store and lost his Dad’s money. Smokey said the young man must gather up his courage and make the pitch to his family. No bank or credit union was going to come through. It would have to be family.

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The night of the meeting with his family, the Gordy family, was like high noon. Everyone sat around the dining room table — Mom, Dad, Brothers, Sisters. George had already pitched the family for a business loan and been denied funding. Esther was highly skeptical of schemes. The family depended upon Esther to keep things together. The family savings fund for seeding investments was Esther’s idea. She was tight with money. If Esther said, no, that would be the end of the road for the young man, her brother.

The questions started flowing like a water fall from family members. What is your plan? The young man replied, he had no real plan as such. Chutzpah. What the young man had was a burning desire to start his own record label. His songs were already big hits. There was Jackie Wilson and Marv Johnson. Wilson and Johnson were just the beginning. All the young man needed was $800 for independence and control.

Sisters Gwen and Anna supported their brother, especially since he promised to replay the loan with full interest.

Esther was not moved. She put it to her brother with a dream — Well, if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich? You’re twenty-nine years old and what have you done so far with your life?

The young man was possessed with destiny. He knew what he knew about the music market, and himself. So what if I’m twenty-nine. I could be thirty-nine, forty-nine or fifty-nine. So what! What’s age got to do with it?…That’s what wrong with people; they give up on their dreams too soon. I’m never going to give up mine.”

The Gordy family members were transfixed — sister against brother, brother against sister.

With the stone cold heart of a strong business woman, Esther rejoined — That’s very nice, but how are you going to pay it back?”

By this point, Mom and Dad Gordy were won over. Esther capitulated. The family unanimously voted for a loan of $800 for their son and brother to create a new company.

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That company would become Motown Corporation. And Berry Gordy, Jr. would repay the $800 with interest. When I was a young kid, Berry Jr. was one of my heroes in Black Enterprise magazine. In 1972, Gordy relocated to Los Angeles and made music history. On June 28, 1988, he sold his interest in Motown to MCA and Boston Ventures for $61 million. That would be $135,610,000 in 2023 dollars.

Berry Gordy, Jr. Mansion — Detroit Michigan

Conclusion: It did not matter to Berry Jr. or his family around the dining room table that they were the descendants of American slavery. What mattered was a dream, a sales presentation and the support of blood family. Nor did it matter to anyone that the young man was a second cousin of future-U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Many Black Americans are united by blood to white families of regard. We are wiser if we perceive ourselves as part of a greater whole in American history.

As Berry Jr. once said himself, the most important reason for his success was one word — focus. I encourage readers disenchanted with activist history and Liberated Ethnic studies to read about black enterprise in an American family. These are the stories I recognize. Consider a summer time read of To Be Loved: The Music, The Magic, The Memories of Motown by Berry Gordy. The Audio Book

Motown Headquarters, 1959 - 1968