Making sure they get it right before it’s too late is the credo of The HistoryMakers, the video archive of interviews with African-American legends, created by Julieanna Richardson. On this night at the Goodman Theatre, what could be more right: “An Evening with Earl Graves,” with the business leader and founder of Black Enterprise magazine being interviewed by NAACP Chairman Julian Bond. More than 1,000 guests at the fundraiser heard the two icons and friends engage in a lively give and take. Bond led Graves down memory lane–when Graves allowed him–from recalling the 1960s with Bobby Kennedy to naming Earl Jr. as CEO of Black Enterprise in 2006. Not all of the conversation was serious. A few missing stories:
Bond: What would you do instead of this?
Graves: “The military. I thought it was a good job but it just didn’t pay enough.”
Bond: Why are you wearing those sideburns?
Graves: “A guy who worked with me had those and I thought they made him not look bald. Do I look bald?” a good-humored (and nearly bald) Graves asked the crowd.
