Friday, February 10, 2012

Joseph Jackson Did What?!

It's man's best friend. It's loyal, loves him, and is a work horse when the man has worked 14 hr days. It's entertaining, comes in all colors and never mutters a word. In shades of gray, tones of black and hues of browns, it will sit in the man's lap all day. And most of the time it does just what you tell it. It's there when he wakes up and sits still when the man's asleep. If you're thinking Fido, Pooch or Killer than you are way off key--well sort of. I've never seen a dog occupy a man's lap upon hours on end but I have witnessed a remote control never to leave sight of a few men, even my perfect daddy. Everyone who has enjoyed the use of their programmable DVD, DVR, TIVO, and television remote controllers owes a thank you to Mr. Joseph N. Jackson.
No, he didn't have a brood of famously singing children in Indiana nor was he a Caucasian major league baseball player. He was the inventor of man's second best friend.
 
Mr. Jackson was born in Harvey, Louisiana as the fourth of eight children born to Ernest and Octavia Jackson. At the age of 17 he went to work as an oil field tool maintenance helper before joining the United States Army at the age of 18. While enlisted in the Army he worked unloading ships in Alaska from 1956-1957 and as a Military Policeman from 1958-1961. In 1961 he received his high school GED. After which, he went to television repair school at night, and later owned and operated a Radio and Television Repair Shop part-time for 7 years in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He was honorably discharged from the Army in February 1968 after 12 years of service. He rejoined in Jun 1970, and worked in Korea as an engineer equipment technician. In 1971, he graduated from the U.S. Army Recruiting and Career Counselor School and work in Boston, MA in 1971-1972.He transferred to California in 1973 as an Army Recruiter and Career Counselor until his retirement July 1978. In 1975 he completed his degree in Business Administration from Columbia College, Columbia, MO.


These efforts led to the precursor of the V-Chip. The V-Chip is an electronic chip which works in conjunction with your television, VCR, or cable box. It is used in the television industry to block out violent and objectionable programs that could be seen by young children. Mr. Jackson is the creator of the Programmable Television Receiver Controllers and other innovative devices for the television industry. Joseph Jackson is presently the holder of at least 6 U.S. Patents in the area of telecommunications and Fertility Prediction Devices for females, several copyrights, trademarks, and Pending Patents in the area or Aircraft security and Tracking. He currently holds a PH.D. in Applied Science and Technology from Glendale University. He was recently honored in the City of Carson, CA, with an honorary Doctorate in Business Administration for his contribution to society. Speaks some conversational Korean and Spanish. This living legend is an inventor, scientist, businessman, humanitarian and Co-founder of the Black Inventions Museum, Inc. To date, he continues to work on ideas that will enhance the lives of BILLIONS OF PEOPLE WORLDWIDE!


So, the next time my daddy yells for me to come down 3 flights of stairs to hand him the remote, or you use this handy lil device to change your radio station even though your arm is less than six inches from radio, we have this man to thank. And if you so happen to find yourself  rolling through Hawthorne, California, throw ya hands up and say hey to Dr. Joe Jackson for me would ya?


//signed//
The Cat's Meow

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks so much Miss. Elle for this beautiful introduction of my dad!! We are so very proud of all of his accomplishments. And we can't thank you enough for spreading the word of his legacy.

Annette Morrison-Harris

The Divine Miss E! said...

Oh my!!!! HI Annette! Thanks for stopping by. It was my pleasure to do this. I was actually educating someone about him again last night. I love it! I plan to do an updated post on him soon. I am so happy you stopped by and even more happy for your blessing! It must feel so great to be a part of such legacy :)

With love and admiration,
Elle

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am 40 years old and I am just finding out that Mr. Jackson invented the remote control. I discovered it because I am working on a black history project for my 2nd grade son. I am so happy and grateful that a Black man invented this. Wow! My son is excited too! We cannot hardly find any info. on him though. We cant find his Date of birth or a Biography or autobiography. We are going to use the info. that we see online , but if you can share his birth date, how many kids he have,etc. we would gladly appreciate it. Thanks a bunch! and Thanks Annette Harris for having such a wonderful dad!

The Divine Miss E! said...

Hi there! I am happy you stumbled about my lil blog to find out more about Mr. Jackson. It does my heart good. Stay tuned for more introductions to our pioneers :)