The fans went crazy, the team went crazy, and we won 22-0 and earned a birth in the state championship game. The teams were waiting to come out on the field, and the PHS band spelled out MOJO instead of PHS for the first time in history. In the semifinal game, we were tied at half-time 0-0 against Houston Smiley.
MOJO continued to grow in popularity as we made our way to the State Championship.
We made MOJO posters, and MOJO banners, and it became our battle cry. When we returned, it was black and white (diagonal) with Mojo Mighty Panthers, and a Panther on it. When we ordered the bumper stickers, I asked them to put MOJO on one of them. When we were Seniors, the Pepettes decided to order bumper stickers to raise money to travel to 4 of the games in a bus.
You can see a poster with MOFO instead of MOJO on it in the 67-68 annual. We were sitting next to them and began yelling it with them. We were losing badly and some PHS Alumni began rolling their arms on MO and throwing their arms in the air for JO. MOJO was first chanted at the Abilene Cooper game in 1967. The truth as I know it is that the cheerleaders picked it up at SMU Cheerleading Camp in the summer. In my annuals, there are a few photos from my junior year (1968-69) with MOJO in banners at Pep Rallies. The first time I heard the MOJO cheer/chant was after the Abilene Cooper game in 1967. After the game reporters were asking Larry how he managed to make that play and he said “I guess I had my MOJO working”. No one on the team except Larry and a receiver knew that it was going to be a two point attempt. Larry was the backup quarterback and holder for extra points. We scored at the start of the second half. We were playing San Angelo and behind 7-0. I have always heard that it can be attributed to Larry Walsh in 1965. In the fall of 1965 it was definitely… big. We passed a house that had a 4 foot lighted “MOJO” sign in the front yard. We dressed at the motel and rode in the bus to the stadium. In the fall of 1965, the El Paso Eastwood football team traveled to Odessa to play Permian. Maybe the original (un)corker knows an earlier history of MOJO. After that, the jug regularly was a part of our pep rallies. (The very first pull was to little effect except on the cheerleaders.) The only comment was, “Here is the spirit bottle”. When the fellow pulled the cork, that was the cue to holler MOJO. Maybe MOJO was painted in white on black. At a pep rally in the auditorium a tall cheerleader brought out a whiskey jug painted black on the bottom and white on the top. MOJO first appeared at Permian in 1962 or 1963. However, it did not become a “fixture” until later in sixties when the song “Got My Mojo Working” was famous and then it went from there. We were using the Mojo Magic and the colors of our fine school to send all the powers to the next years to Permian Prowess in all areas of the school. MOJO started in 1962 during the senior stunt play. In 1976… ‘MOJO’ had become so widespread that the Permian seniors were to let it be known MOJO and Odessa Permian were one in the same.Īccording to alumni, Mojo may have very well been adopted even earlier than this. After all, it was easier to write Mojo than Permian or Panthers with shoe polish. It was in 1972 that several fans were decorating their cars with MOJO. More and more fans started the chant during crucial moments of the games over the next few years. The Mojo hand has been a part of the Louisiana folklore for special voodoo properties of luck. By the time others heard the chant, it was condensed to Mo Jo. The close game hit its peak in the fourth quarter, where to warm themselves a handful of fans in the same section started saying “more jo”. Fans sitting around him heard “need more jo” – jo > java > coffee. Jack Crawley, then assistant principal, was rumored to have been asking for more coffee in the third quarter. Permian’s adoption of Mojo suppose to trace back to the early ’60s on a cold night in Abilene, TX. Muddy Waters got his ‘Mojo working’ and Jim Morrison of The Doors called for the Mojo Risin’. “Mojo” spread first into mainstream Black English and then general usage primarily through the popularity of jazz and blues music. The ultimate root of “mojo” was the word “moco’o,” which means “shaman or medicine man” in the African language Fulani. “Mojo” first appeared in the 1920s in the southern United States from the Gullah word “moco” (magic), Gullah being Creole spoken by some groups of African-Americans. “Mojo” is magic, magical ability, and the power to get things done.
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