Bob Dockery, Jr.

ROBERT W. DOCKERY, JR.: (Managing Member) When Robert “Bob” Dockery, Jr. was a child, his parents told him, “there is no such thing as can’t in the Dockery family.” Armed with that indomitable will to succeed, Bob has forged a string of amazing accomplishments into a legacy that inspires and illuminates the human possibilities.

After graduating from Morehouse College, Dockery, Jr. worked for Aetna Life & Casualty in New York, where he integrated the previously all-white Group Division. This experience prepared him for his next undertaking–Eastern sales manager for Shindana Toys, a black doll company.

In 1972, John H. Johnson, publisher of Ebony Magazine, hired Dockery, Jr. to run the Los Angeles ad sales office. After a short and successful stint with Ebony, Dockery, Jr. and his friend, Lee Triggs, launched the Polymedia Advertising Agency.

The agency’s first national client was Pro-Line, for which they created their first national ad campaign for Curley Kit. It was enormously successful. The agency’s accounts included Ralph Groceries and the Southern California Visitors and Convention Bureau. They then won a major account with the Los Angeles Department of Airports and launched the tremendously successful Flyaway Bus advertising campaign. After five years at Polymedia, Bob and Lee closed the company. Lee went to work for Pro-Line and Dockery Jr. went to work for Columbia Pictures Merchandising as director of West Coast Operations.

Dockery, Jr. left Columbia in 1980 and started a radio production company. His first radio program was Jazz Chronicles. In 1982, he created the highly acclaimed, King: A Musical Tribute, hosted by Brock Peters. That program has aired for the past 30 consecutive years. The next project was the 24 hour radio epic, The Music of Black America, which was hosted by Lou Rawls and JJ Johnson. Dockery, Jr. followed that successful program with Story of a People, hosted by James Earl Jones and Alfre Woodard, which told the history of Black America with narration and music. Since 1980, Dockery Jr. has produced and aired more than 100 different radio programs. He has been a driving force in radio by reinforcing the culture and history of African-Americans.

Dockery, Jr. entered television production in 1987. For the next 23 years Dockery, Jr. produced and aired over 45 documentary episodes under the title Story of a People. These documentaries highlighted African-American lifestyles and culture with topics ranging from education and civil rights to Hollywood and Broadway.

Other television programs produced by Dockery, Jr. included The Other Side of Victory, which was hosted by Arthur Ashe, James Brown and Robin Roberts, Red, Hot and Cool, which was hosted by Nancy Wilson and A Laugh/A Tear, a special about Black comedy that was hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. Overall, Dockery has produced over 100 television programs that have aired worldwide.

In 2008, Bob Dockery, Jr. produced a one hour documentary for TV ONE entitled MLK- A Dream Deferred, celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. 40 years after his assassination.

Bob is currently producing two stage plays– a musical entitled Aspirin–For One Less Headache, and Only Just A Minute–a drama about Benjamin Mays and his mentorship of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Bob Dockery, Jr. is an avid traveler and also enjoys singing jazz and playing golf.