This Is My New Jersey

Today is October first. Normally my post today would kick off the celebration of Italian Heritage Month. But I needed to pause and note the passing of Jersey’s favorite son, John Amos.

John Allen Amos Jr. was born in Newark and grew up in East Orange. He was what I would call a Renaissance Man. He graduated with a professional certification as a social worker, played professional football, acted on television, film, and stage. He was a producer, a writer, a singer, and a veteran. He was a husband and a father.

For me two things stand out from his life. First, we share the same birthday. As a fellow Newark-born child, I always thought being born in the same city on the same date – well, 31 years apart, that is – was just cool.

The other, and more important to me growing up, was his role as James Evans on Good Times. I was not the appropriate age to watch Roots when it first came out, but I was just the right age, well, maybe a little young, for Good Times in reruns.

I really liked the “the parents” as I would refer to them. At the time, I knew very little beyond the Italian American neighborhood I grew up in, just one town over from Newark, but a lot of the topics and temperament felt familiar to me. A Christian family with a stern but loving way. My dad was hardly the stern one in my household, but the show felt – comfortable. There’s really no other way to put it. I grew up in a large family full of characters. My religious and loving grandma, my full-of-character Uncle Chubby, kids complaining about doing homework, and a parent that would regularly lay down the law.

Now, was this what an African American family was really all about? Honestly, I have zero idea. I didn’t really think of it as a “Black show.” It was just an entertaining show that I enjoyed with a family I liked. And John Amos, a child of Essex County like me, was a key part of that show and what made it work.

So I thank you Mr. Amos for making such an impact in so many different areas, and doing your home state proud. May you rest in peace.