Black History Month 2011
For Black History Month 2011, the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education website celebrates 28 individuals. One for each day of February, the shortest month of the year.
The lives of these Americans are worthy of celebration and further study, which our short profiles hope to encourage. The women and men included are writers, editors, journalists, publishers, trailblazers and change makers. They remind us of the rich contributions African Americans make and have made in the world of words.
This is by no means a definitive or exhaustive listing. It’s a starting point for learning, comment & discussion during Black History Month - February, 2011 when our nation pays a little more attention to issues of diversity. Be heard. Tell us what you think & what we can learn!
January 31, 2011Leandra Abbott started her journalism career as the first black female on staff at Cosmopolitan Magazine in 1967. Soon thereafter, Abbott found herself working at Newsweek, where she was charged with reporting on civil rights issues. ... more »
February 1, 2011From an unpaid radio jockey and reporter, Ed Bradley built a career as an award-winning journalist, highly acclaimed for his work on 60 Minutes. After hearing a Philadelphia DJ speak at his college class, Bradley was intrigued and started... more »
February 2, 2011Earl Caldwell started his career writing for his local small town newspaper and went on to cover some of the biggest stories in our nation’s history. As a reporter for the New York Times, he was the only journalist at the Lorraine Motel when Dr.... more »
February 3, 2011Cheryl Contee looked at the way African Americans are portrayed in the traditional media and the realities of African American life. The glaring disparity prompted her and a colleague to found Jack & Jill Politics, an online site dedicated to... more »
February 4, 2011Belva Davis has been instrumental in the advancement of African Americans from her earliest professional years. As one of the first black female TV journalists in the ‘60s, Davis helped to put a respected minority face in the living rooms of... more »
February 5, 2011Frederick Douglass, an African American born into slavery, is an icon in the history of both great Americans and great journalists. The founder of the North Star, an abolitionist newspaper that fought slavery and called for the emancipation of... more »
February 6, 2011David Drummond is a groundbreaking African American who is currently the Chief Legal Executive of Google. He holds a law degree with honors from Stanford University, and has testified at the United States Senate regarding the competitive... more »
February 7, 2011Marcus Garvey established the concept of a “Pan African” philosophy known as “Garveyism” in the early 20th century. Born in Jamaica, he went on to establish the United Negro Improvement Association and the PPP, the first modern era... more »
February 8, 2011Dorothy Gilliam is a trailblazing African American journalist who was the first full time black woman reporter hired at the Washington Post in 1961. She was president of the National Association of Black Journalists, as well a television... more »
Work We <3 | FDP
Instead of spending all our time calling out journalism that doesn't work, we want to find work we like. We'd like to encourage our readers to submit links to content that is moving or challenging and that goes beyond the standard narrative either at the level of form or content. In other words, we want to see journalism that works.
We're particularly interested in work at the nexus of the following categories:
- Please include a comment explaining why the content you're sharing works.
- Comments can be as short or long as desired.
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- Assistant Professor - Journalism/Participatory Media or Ethnic/Community Media @ California State University, Northridge
Dori Maynard tweets on Diversity, Media & More
@JamilSmith The distorted #media depiction of African American men & boys has real life consequences, again. #mediadiversity #Tremaine