Overview

"The first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States was Charlotta Bass - a journalist. That happened 70 years ago. For nearly four decades before her 1952 run for the vice presidency, Bass was the crusading editor and publisher of the California Eagle, the largest Black-owned newspaper on the West Coast. But those who write the history of that time have largely forgotten-or simply ignored-Bass. Bonnie Newman Davis' book, Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960, tells the stories of 24 Black women whose journalism careers spanned the last forty years of the 20th century. They are print and broadcast journalists and, like Bass, courageously bore the burden of being a Black woman in America's newsrooms. Norma Adams-Wade to Lynne K. Varner, Wanda Lloyd to Barbara Ciara, and Patrice Gaines to Sandra Daye Hughes, the stories Davis tells are of Black women journalists who took on the challenges of being what W.E.B. DuBois called the ""two-ness"" of being an American and Black."

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9780578299358

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Bonnie Newman Davis has curated this collection of stories about Black women journalists in four movements with a reporter's eye, an editor's perspective and a historian's sensitivity to research. The career of each barrier-breaking, trailblazing news leader teaches indispensable lessons about navigating the media field while meeting the challenges of life in America. -Linda Shockley, Former Managing Director, Dow Jones News Fund Bonnie Newman Davis's journalistic achievements run the gamut. However, she recognizes her success could not have been possible without the African American female journalists who paved the way-not only before her, but also, alongside her. In the book, Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960, she presents the powerful stories of 24 journalists who succeeded despite the incredible odds against them. Some of them experienced humiliation and depression; others faced backlash from within their own communities. Yet, their dedication to truth and purpose prevailed, providing a much-needed inspirational blueprint for a new generation of journalists navigating tumultuous times. -Karla Redditte, Anchor, Spectrum News 1 It is often said today that women are the face of journalism, with demographics shifting and placing them in the majority in our classrooms and newsrooms. Bonnie Newman Davis offers us a very special invitation to consider that perhaps they always have been. This timely and much needed assessment of the journeys and achievements of Black women of our time fills a void that long has existed in telling the story of the journalism profession. I'm proud and pleased to say I know many of these women and have seen them in action firsthand. They have been and continue to be difference makers. Those I did not know before now, I get to know because Bonnie has sagaciously pulled together chapters of their lives and placed them within reach. The bonus is, in telling their stories, Bonnie is also telling her own amazing story, which needs to be known and shared with all aspiring journalists, regardless of gender or color. Write on Sister Bonnie. -Robbie R. Morganfield, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, North Carolina A&T State University

"""Bonnie Newman Davis has curated this collection of stories about Black women journalists in four movements with a reporter's eye, an editor's perspective and a historian's sensitivity to research. The career of each barrier-breaking, trailblazing news leader teaches indispensable lessons about navigating the media field while meeting the challenges of life in America."" -Linda Shockley, Former Managing Director, Dow Jones News Fund ""Bonnie Newman Davis's journalistic achievements run the gamut. However, she recognizes her success could not have been possible without the African American female journalists who paved the way-not only before her, but also, alongside her. In the book, Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960, she presents the powerful stories of 24 journalists who succeeded despite the incredible odds against them. Some of them experienced humiliation and depression; others faced backlash from within their own communities. Yet, their dedication to truth and purpose prevailed, providing a much-needed inspirational blueprint for a new generation of journalists navigating tumultuous times."" -Karla Redditte, Anchor, Spectrum News 1 ""It is often said today that women are the face of journalism, with demographics shifting and placing them in the majority in our classrooms and newsrooms. Bonnie Newman Davis offers us a very special invitation to consider that perhaps they always have been. This timely and much needed assessment of the journeys and achievements of Black women of our time fills a void that long has existed in telling the story of the journalism profession. I'm proud and pleased to say I know many of these women and have seen them in action firsthand. They have been and continue to be difference makers. Those I did not know before now, I get to know because Bonnie has sagaciously pulled together chapters of their lives and placed them within reach. The bonus is, in telling their stories, Bonnie is also telling her own amazing story, which needs to be known and shared with all aspiring journalists, regardless of gender or color. Write on Sister Bonnie."" -Robbie R. Morganfield, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, North Carolina A&T State University"

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