February is Black History Month, a time to remember the African-American men and women who helped shape this country into what it is today. As it is a time to commemorate African-American individuals who made a positive impact in their communities and our society as a whole, this article is dedicated to celebrating the history of African Americans in the United States and their undeniably impactful contributions to giving a voice to the voiceless through journalism.
Timothy Thomas Fortune was born on October 3, 1856, in Marianna, Florida, to parents who had been formerly enslaved. He emerged as a prominent African American editor, journalist, and publisher, beginning his career as an apprentice printer at the Marianna Courier before moving on to the Jacksonville Daily Times Union. After a stint as a customs inspector and contributing to a black newspaper in Washington, D.C, Fortune enrolled at Howard University in 1876. In 1881, he relocated to Manhattan, where he published significant works such as “The Negro in Politics” and “Black and White: Land, Labor, and Politics in the South”, which addressed the issues faced by African American in the post- Reconstruction era. As an editor and publisher, he transformed the New York Freeman into the New York Age, one of the largest black newspapers of its time, advocating for civil rights and exposing racial discrimination. Furthermore, Timothy Thomas Fortune collaborated with notable figures such as Booker T. Washington and Ida B. Wells. Additionally, he also founded the National Afro- American League, which played a crucial role in the Niagara Movement and the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Continuing the tradition of using journalism as a way to advocate for others, Ida B. Wells dedicated her life to fighting against racial injustice.
Ida B. Wells was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and was born into slavery during the Civil War. In 1865, Ida and her parents, Elizabeth and James Wells, were emancipated from slavery because of the Emancipation Proclamation. Wells’s parents spent time educating their children until they unfortunately died due to yellow fever in 1878. After her parents passed, Ida decided to buy a first-class ticket to sit in a women’s car, but instead of receiving her seat, she was dragged to the smoking car. She fought in court and won until the judge reversed the decision, but this moment was when Wells realized her passion for having equity under law. She began her journalism career in Memphis, eventually becoming an editor of a local newspaper, and a little while later became a writer under the name of “Lola”. Due to this, she became very well known for her writings on racial issues, lynching, and activism. She eventually released a book called “The Red Recor,d” which was a book on the statistics of lynching. She continued to be an activist throughout her life until she died of kidney disease in 1931, and to this day, she is known as a respected leader and journalist.
Building off of Fortune’s contribution, Wells’ work helped to widen the open discussion of racial issues within the United States, and soon, another voice would join the conversation.
Robert Sengstacke Abbott was an African-American journalist, lawyer, and publisher best voted for founding the Chicago Defender in 1905 he was born on November 24, 1870, in Georgia Abbott used his newspaper to advocate for civil rights, challenge racial injustice, and promote great migration, encouraging black Americans to move from the south to the north in search of better opportunities under his leadership. The Chicago Defender became one of the most widely read black newspapers in the United States, helping to shape the African-American political and social movements. Abbott’s work played a crucial role in fighting discrimination and increased black voices, leaving a lasting impact on American journalism.
While Abbott’s work helped encourage change in the wider social structure, others focussed their attention on the inequalities in their own field.
Many of the most important African American voices of journalism came from humble beginnings, as opportunities were far more sparse for people of color in the past. Alice Dunnigan is a clear example of this. She began her life in rural Kentucky, and while in school, she worked for any housekeeping-related gigs she could get to make money. Despite her humble beginnings, however, by the time she was 13, Dunnigan was already finding work in the writing scene for local papers. After gaining a few years of experience, Dunnigan made the move to Washington, D.C., and began working for the Department of Labor as a typist. This combined experience in her younger years led her to begin working as the Washington Bereau Chief of a very relevant organization at the time, the American Negro Press. Throughout her career, Dunnigan made her mark not only with her reporting and writing skills but also with her activism. She fought for equal pay, especially in regards to women, as she struggled to get the same salaries as men in similar positions despite doing the same work. She also advocated for the hiring of journalists who were people of color. Alice Dunnigan changed the journalism world for minorities and fought for everyone to have a voice.
Dunningan ended up paving the way for women of color to start taking higher-up roles in the journalism scene, as exemplified by Ethel Payne’s story.
Ethel L. Payne was a Civil Rights activist who was not only known as the first African American woman to become an international news correspondent, but she is also known as the first African American woman to be included in the White House press corps. She had a meaningful impact on journalism by writing about what others avoided. She covered events such as the Korean War, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War. When the Korean War began in 1950, she journaled the treatment of the African American troops. She wrote about the segregation of the soldiers, the racial slurs that were used against them, and the babies that were abandoned as orphans because they were born to Japanese mothers and black fathers. After the Defender’s editor-in-chief discovered her writing, they offered her a job, which she then accepted in 1951. While writing for the Defender, she focused on adoption crises for African American children and the struggles unwed mothers faced. She wrote about the truth, highlighting the many struggles/ problems that needed to be heard. She’s an inspiration that more should learn about.
Ethel Payne’s work opened even more doors for black women in journalism, including TV reporting.
Belva Davis is a journalist who is known for being the first black female television reporter in the Western United States. She was initially a freelance writer for Jet magazine, but she began reading newspaper clips on KSAN-FM, becoming the first black woman at the station. She later had her two-hour radio show at KDIA and left to anchor and host many shows across a variety of stations to fight for racial equality. For over a decade, she was the National Equal Employment Opportunities Chair for the broadcasting union AFTRA, where she campaigned for the rights of minority groups in the television industry. Her career spanned half a century, and she has helped change the focus of broadcast news to include all people regardless of their ethnicity.
Davis, however, was not alone in her efforts to bring black voices into broadcast news.
Max Robinson was born on May 1, 1939, in Richmond, Virginia. He began his career in television in 1959 at WTOV-TV in Portsmouth, Virginia, before being fired shortly after when the company received complaints from audience members about the company hiring a black man. Robinson was then hired by WRC-TV, where he stayed for the next three years. It was during this time that he would truly begin his career as a renowned journalist and spokesperson for social justice, winning a total of six journalism awards for his coverage of civil rights events like the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King. It was also where he won two Emmys for his documentary The Other Washington, which shed light on the struggles of black communities in Anacostia. In 1969, he joined the Eyewitness News team at WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in Washington D.C and became the first African-American to star as an anchor on a local news program. In 1975, he helped found the National Association of Black Journalists, which now helps to provide opportunities, advocacy, and support for black journalists across the country. In 1978, he was hired as one of three hosts for a new ABC nightly news broadcast, World News Tonight, becoming the first black man to anchor a nightly network news broadcast. Robinson retired in 1985 but continued to promote journalism within the African American community. He died three years later due to complications from AIDS, leaving behind a legacy of social advocacy and inspiration.
References
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Anderson, A. (2018). Ethel L. Payne. National Women’s History Museum. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ethel-payne
Belva Davis. (n.d.). California Museum. https://californiamuseum.org/inductee/belva-davis/
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Max Robinson | The obscurity of America’s first black news anchor The Commonwealth Times. (2017, March 20). The Commonwealth Times. https://commonwealthtimes.org/2017/03/20/max-robinson-the-obscurity-of-americas-first-black-news-anchor/
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- Thomas Fortune | American journalist. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/T-Thomas-Fortune
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