Berry Gordy Jr.

What does it mean to say that Berry Gordy Jr. created Motown? It means that he is responsible for discovering some of the greatest talents in pop-music history and for many of their most memorable re­cordings. It means that  above and beyond the contributions of individ­ual artists, he forged the "Motown sound,” which still reverberates through pop music, film soundtracks, even  television  commercials; it’s ti­tles and lyrics are a part of our vernacular.

Finally, it means that as a black Ameri­can, Berry Gordy Jr.  accomplished these things despite persistent and formidable barriers of race and class, rising to the ranks of entertainment-industry giants and to the leadership of the nation’s largest black-owned business enterprise.