JLabel c = new JLabel();
You have an empty label, so I'm guessing the size if (0, 0) and there is nothing to paint. Try adding some text.
Also the following is incorrect:
add("East", b);
That is the old way of adding a constraint. Don't use hardcoded values and the constraint is specified second:
add(b, BorderLayout.???);
Read the BorderLayout API or the Swing tutorial on Using a Border Layout
for the appropriate constraint.