INDEX FEATURES 5 Nekesa Mumbi Moody AP’s music writer breaks down the secret of arts and entertainment writing by Ernie Suggs.

6 Thank You Miss Rosa Rosa Parks, the mother of the Civil Rights Movement, is remembered by Oralandar Brand-Williams, a reporter who covered her and knew her well.

COVER STORY 8 Covering Katrina Black journalists report from the eye of one of the most devastating storms in American history. By Tammy Carter, Steven Gray, Cynthia Daniels and Errin Haines.

12 Opinion How race played a role in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by Lawrence Aaron.

16 Katrina and the students Black College Wire & The Black Collegian join forces to cover the disaster by Pearl Stewart.

28 An Appreciation John H. Johnson leaves a monumental legacy by Lynn Norment.

DEPARTMENTS 17 On The Yard with Mashaun Simon 21 Tip Sheet: 3-D graphics made easy with Jerome Thompson 27 Comings & Goings

GALLERIES 18 A look back at the 2005 Convention Dick Tripp of the Detroit 22 NABJ Awards Gala Free Press captures Rosa Parks at her Detroit home in 1964. Mrs. Parks relocated to the Cover Photo Motor City in 1958 with Willie J. Allen of the St. Petersburg Times. her husband, Raymond.

The NABJ Journal (USPS number pending) is published four times a year by the National Association of Black Journalists, the largest organization of journalists of color in the nation. To discuss news items, photos and letters or advertising, call 301.445.7100 ext. 110 or fax to 301.445.7101; or e-mail [email protected]. For information about advertising, call Gerald Van Treeck at Achieve Communications at 847.562.8633; fax to 847.562.8634; or e-mail [email protected]. NABJ members receive one free copy; additional copies of this or back issues are available to members and non-members at $3.50 each; annual subscription is $14.00. Reprints not permitted without written approval from NABJ. Postmaster: Send address changes to NABJ, 8701-A Adelphi Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-1716.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 3 from the NABJ president BRYAN MONROE

Winter 2005 • Vol. 22, No. 3 Telling the stories of the storytellers Official Publication of the Early on the morning of August 29, 2005, National Association of Black while What we saw yesterday was horrific, much Journalists the last of thousands of Gulf Coast residents were worse than when I covered Hurricane Hugo in fleeing a storm called Katrina, I and a handful of Myrtle Beach more than a decade ago. Because NABJ Board of Directors journalists headed south down Interstate 65 – Katrina was so huge, it will likely dwarf the directly into the mouth of the killer storm. damage from even Hurricane Andrew that hit Looking back, months later, I had to ask, “What Miami. This is bad, real bad. PRESIDENT were we thinking?” Bryan Monroe The devastation WAS overwhelming. Speeding past Mobile and merging onto I-10, it Knight Ridder Everywhere one looked, there were mounds of started to become real. Too real. Around us, trees twisted lumber just yards away from where homes were snapped like dry spaghetti. In Ocean Springs, VICE PRESIDENT/BROADCAST once stood. And each one of those broken houses east of Biloxi, we pulled up to the bridge that Barbara Ciara – now represented by a vacant foundation and a linked the two cities, hoping to cross. We couldn’t. WTKR-TV (Norfolk) pile of debris– symbolized a life, a child, a family It was gone. who had evacuated, was now homeless or in a As we made our way into Gulfport – the two VICE PRESIDENT/PRINT shelter or, worse yet, dead. earlier exits into Biloxi were also washed away – Ernie Suggs Their stories needed to be told. That was the job we dodged downed oak trees straddling the main The Atlanta Journal-Constitution of the hundreds of television, newspaper, online road. When we finally made it to the Sun Herald’s and radio journalists who went into harms way plant on DeBuys Road, barely a block from the SECRETARY those last days of August. beach but protected by the railroad tracks, we were Sarah J. Glover stunned to find the building relatively intact. The Philadelphia Inquirer As you read this edition of the NABJ Journal – The next 72 hours telling the stories of were pretty much a blur. TREASURER the storytellers – We worked 12-18 hours John Yearwood remember the sacri- each day, slept on the The Miami Herald fices your colleagues floor of the newsroom, made to bring the ate peanut butter and PARLIAMENTARIAN nation and the world jelly sandwiches for din- Melanie Burney the words and images ner (and lunch and The Philadelphia Inquirer of Katrina. Remember, breakfast) and, well, too, the pain of those don’t ask about the bath- REGION I DIRECTOR journalists, students room situation. Errol Cockfield and NABJ members We were there to help Newsday who lived and worked the our colleagues cover in the region – many the tragedy and publish REGION II DIRECTOR of whom are now dis- the paper — we never J. Elliott Lewis placed, homeless, missed a day in print — Freelance without a job or a pay- but we ended up eyewit- check. (We have ness to the most devas- Bryan Monroe/Knight Ridder REGION III DIRECTOR already begun sending tating natural disaster in Audra Burch of The Miami Herald interviews a Tammy Carter out the first wave of our nation’s history. woman in front of the Main Street Missionary The Orlando Sentinel relief checks from the Black journalists were Baptist Church in Biloxi, two days after the NABJ Katrina Fund.You among those first respon- hurricane swept through the region. REGION IV DIRECTOR can still donate at ders. In addition to the Leisa Richardson www.nabj.org) extraordinary team there The Indianapolis Star And there are still with me in Biloxi that first week – Mike McQueen more stories to tell. NABJ members will be going of the Macon Telegraph, Mizell Stewart, formerly REGION V DIRECTOR back down to the gulf region soon – through of the Tallahassee Democrat, Cathy Straight of the Russell LaCour grants from the NABJ Media Institute Gulf Coast St. Paul Pioneer Press, Cynthia Daniels of The Tulsa World Fellowships – to continue telling the stories of Newsday, Audra Burch of the Miami Herald – those who lives are now forever altered by the there were scores of others spread out from New REGION VI DIRECTOR storm of all storms, Hurricane Katrina. Orleans to Houston, Gulfport to Galveston, Baton V.W. Vaughan Let me send special thanks to NABJ vice presi- Rouge to Pascagoula. The Arizona Daily Star dent/print Ernie Suggs and marketing and publi- That next day, I was able to shoot out a short cations manager Maria Newman for all their hard email update note to members at 6:06 a.m. ASSOCIATE REPRESENTATIVE work and sacrifice in making this journal happen Tuesday morning, Aug. 29: Angela McClendon Johnson so quickly. And let’s not forget NABJ secretary San Antonio Convention & Visitors While New Orleans has been getting most of Sarah Glover for compiling all the great photos, Bureau the early attention, let me tell you that the real Copy Editing Task Force chair Diane Hawkins for story is here in South Mississippi, which the diligent editing of the magazine, and all those STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE absorbed the full force of Katrina on as it who contributed to making this edition happen. Mashaun D. Simon veered east of New Orleans. The devastation is Finally, let me thank all the brave reporters, edi- Georgia Perimeter College overwhelming. Homes are gone, roads tors, photographers, correspondents, technicians destroyed, infrastructure in shambles. At least and engineers who went into harms way to tell the three staff members from the paper here have stories. lost their homes… Your journalism matters. 4 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG from the executive director TANGIE NEWBORN

8701 Adelphi Road Creating our future, one member at a time Adelphi, MD 20783 Telephone: 301.445.7100 Happy 2006! accountable. The weathercaster was later fired. Facsimile: 301.445.7101 NABJ has reached an important milestone www.nabj.org as we culminate our 30th Anniversary. Our The bottom line is that we will continue members understand that it is because of to be the watchdog of the media. We will NABJ, our founders, and our mission that praise when necessary. We will challenge NABJ Staff many black journalists have the opportunity media policies that hurt job prospects of black to serve as anchors, writers, editors, and pro- journalists and bigoted reporting that unfairly EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR fessionals in the media. portrays our communities. Tangie Newborn In a recent conversation with a member, I As we enter into a new year, our goal is to was asked to what I attribute members joining become 5,000 strong by September 2006. But MEMBERSHIP & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR NABJ. Could it be convention related? Perhaps we can’t do it without our members. We need Germaine Ashton that is one factor. Could it be the opportunities you. We need you to continue to be our eyes to network with other black journalists? and ears, and we also need you to encourage MEMBERSHIP MANAGER Conceivably that could be a factor as well. But others to take this NABJ journey with us. Veronique Dodson I am convinced that it is because of the hard On February 1, we will launch a new mem- work of NABJ’s most-valued members whose ber-get-a-member campaign: “Creating Our COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER infectious excitement about NABJ has caused Future…One Member at a Time.” We need Lisa Goodnight others to join this powerful organization. each member to recruit one new member. We And, I am sure you will agree that these are not need you to bring back those pioneer mem- MARKETING & PUBLICATIONS MANAGER bers who feel that they’ve outgrown NABJ. We Maria A. Newman the only reasons. It is NABJ’s advocacy PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT MANAGER role and commitment to Ryan L. Williams diversity in newsrooms. It is the professional PROGRAM ASSOCIATE development opportuni- Erinn Joyner ties NABJ offers through its Media Institute, con- EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT/ vention and regional con- DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE ferences. And, it is the Kelly Madison many job opportunities offered through NABJ’s Jobs Online and annual career fair. Currently NABJ is nearly 4,000 members DATES TO REMEMBER strong. But we can be stronger! More members Dec. 12, 2005 mean an increased ability NABJ’s 30th Anniversary to continue what we do best: fight everyday to Jan. 1 - June 30, 2006 open doors for black Gulf Coast Fellowship journalists at every level Photo by Jason Miccolo Johnson and to serve as a watch- Jan. 15, 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ed Bradley and Executive dog of the media. Deadline: Call for Proposals Director Tangie Newborn take a minute to pose for the photographer Consider this: When at the opening reception of the 2005 Awards Gala. March 29-11,, 2006 former Meredith Corp. media executive Kevin Region V Conference O’Brien remarked: “We Oklahoma can’t right all the wrongs of the Civil War; need their sage advice and guidance to mentor March 15-18, 2006 we’ve got to quit hiring all these black people,” those who want to walk in their shoes. your NABJ was right there, condemning the There is a new energy surrounding NABJ. Broadcast Short Course comments and lauding the Meredith Corp. for Our advocacy has resulted in our being invit- North Carolina A&T State University his firing. It was more than just a racist com- ed into newsrooms with managers to have April 1, 2006 ment; the statement was a symptom of a frank discussions about diversity — represent- thought process that prevents African- ing the views of our members is our passion. Deadline: NABJ Scholarships Americans from obtaining jobs they deserve. And there is strength in numbers. Aug. 16-20, 2006 And when a Las Vegas weather forecaster at The more members we have, the more NABJ 31st Annual KTNV substituted the racial slur “coon”for the power and influence we have. So, I encourage last name of Dr. Martin Luther King, as the you to build on our past accomplishments and Convention & Career Fair nation celebrated his 76th birthday, your help create our future. Recruit a new member Indianapolis NABJ was there to hold the television station today!

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 5 from the managing editor ERNIE SUGGS Returning to ink on paper

Winter 2005 • Vol. 22, No. 3 During my tenure as NABJ’s Region IV Our students also got involved in the coverage, Official Publication of the Director, I grew quite fond of e-mail as my major through the Black College Wire and The Black National Association of Black Journalists mode of communicating with the Region. Some Collegian, links of which are provided on these might say I used it too much. But my great friend pages. and mentor,Sidmel Estes-Sumpter,while she Speaking of students, Student Representative appreciated the e-mails, always longed for the Mashaun Simon takes us “On the Yard,” to catch P UBLISHER paper. up with what NABJ’s vast and important student Bryan Monroe Sidmel is old school. body is doing. KNIGHT RIDDER She wanted something she could pick up. Jerome Thompson, my colleague at the Atlanta Something she could feel. Journal-Constitution, gave us a primer on the I must say, that in my three years as Regional exciting world of 3-D imaging, an area where he M ANAGING E DITOR Director, I was never able to produce a paper is quickly becoming one of the country’s fore- Ernie Suggs newsletter or regional journal. But that doesn’t THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION most experts. mean I wasn’t listening to Sidmel. Perhaps my favorite piece in the whole issue So when President Monroe asked me to guide was my sit down with Nekesa Mumbi Moody to P ICTURE E DITOR the direction of the NABJ Journal, I jumped at talk about what she does as an entertainment Sarah J. Glover the opportuni- writer for the THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER ty. While the Associated world and Press. most of us live We also take C OPY E DITORS and breath by time to pay Diane Hawkins e-mail and the homage to two Michael K. Watts Internet, does- giants that we Lamar Wilson n’t it feel good lost – Rosa to go to your Parks and mailbox, pick John H. P RODUCTION D IRECTOR up the NABJ Johnson. Maria A. Newman Journal and Oralandar casually read Brand- it? Williams, who C ONTRIBUTORS That is our I sat next to Lawrence Aaron goal. for seven Oralandar Brand-Williams Starting with hours as we Tammy L. Carter this issue, we covered Mrs. are committed Parks’ funeral, Cynthia Daniels Ron Rogers/South Bend (Ind.) Tribune Cindy George to publishing penned an Steven Gray the NABJ Journal, come rain or shine, every excellent tribute and shares with us her unique Errin Haines quarter. I have committed to that schedule and I experience of knowing the legend as a family Lynn Norment am looking for you, the members of NABJ, to friend and covering her as a reporter for the Richard Prince help me. As you glance through this issue, you Detroit News. Ron Rogers see that I have tried to tap as many members as And Lynn Norment, managing editor of Mashaun D. Simon possible, all from diverse disciplines; to help put Ebony Magazine gave a rare photograph and a Pearl Stewart together this issue. rarer glimpse into the life and legacy of Mr. Jerome Thompson Sarah Glover, of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Johnson. served as our picture editor and gathered a crack Diane Hawkins, Lamar Wilson and Michael K. team of shooters to fill our pages with images of Watts read everything to make sure it sounded P HOTOGRAPHERS one of the biggest stories of all of our lives, right and putting it all together was Maria Willie J. Allen Jr. Hurricane Katrina. Newman, NABJ’s Marketing & Publications Andre’ Chung Willie J. Allen Jr., Monica A. Morgan, Andre Manager. Associated Press Chung, Jason Miccolo Johnson, Carl Juste, There is still much more to be done for our Jason Miccolo Johnson William Philpott, Brandi Jade Thomas, Dick upcoming issues. We will be adding features, Carl Juste Tripp, Paul Warner and cartoonist Ron Rogers’ recruiting more people to help us and continuing Monica A. Morgan graphic images, told the stories visually that our to refine this great product and resource. William Philpott team of reporters told through their words. But this is going to be your magazine. If you Brandi Jade Thomas Steven Gray, Cindy George, Cynthia Daniels have ideas, suggestions, letters to the editor or Dick Tripp and Errin Haines, all members of the next great comments, please let us know. If you want to Paul Warner generation of young journalists, provided eye- write, shoot or illustrate, let us know. I can be witness accounts of the devastation, heartache reached at [email protected] and you can and poignancy left in Katrina’s wake. catch Maria at [email protected]. Tammy Carter and Lawrence Aaron, both We look forward to hearing from you. acclaimed columnists, looked at the role of the So, to Sidmel and the entire NABJ family, I black journalist in this crisis and the role of being hope you enjoy this. And I’ll see you all next black and how that had an impact on the cover- quarter. age and recovery afterwards.

6 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG catching up with... Nekesa Mumbi Moody On writing, Michael Jackson, purple dressing rooms and wet fingers Music Writer - Associated Press Living in Brooklyn New York Barnard College - Class of 1992

As the music writer for the Associated Press, Nekesa Mumbi Moody is always where the action is. three features in a week, and that's not even including breaking news, editing reviews, assign- Since 1992, she has been a newswoman with the AP, first in Albany, N.Y., and for the last seven years ing stories and all the other minutia of my job. in the Big Apple, she's interviewed everyone from Britney to Diddy to Madonna, and covered every- And I cover all genres. In the first two or three thing from the Grammys to the MTV Awards to the deaths of Aaliyah and Luther Vandross to the months of my job, the idea of going to a listening trials and tribulations of Michael Jackson. Between it all, Nekesa, a 1992 Barnard College graduate party or all-star party was cool. But I soon found has developed into one of the finest music writers in the country. In the midst of cooking some I'd rather go home, hang with my friends or hang spaghetti and meatballs, she told her story to Ernie Suggs. out with my dogs instead! Journal: How did you get in the business? my story, you will get something different. Journal : Do you at least get a goody bag? I heard Nekesa: I worked on my high school newspaper. they are pretty good at those award shows. Journal : Who is tough to interview? Nekesa: If I get a goody bag, it's usually pretty In college I did more activist stuff and during my Nekesa: Beyonce is a hard person to interview sophomore year, I was president of a black minor. I'm not allowed to take anything of serious because she is so media trained. She is smart and value, and they're not going to give me a gift bag women’s group. But I decided I wanted to do is not going to reveal if she had a fight with Jay-Z something different and get back into journalism, worth $20,000 anyway! Though everyone likes to or is even dating Jay-Z. Others are more natural; get stuff, I can't worry about the spa gift certificate so I got an internship at the Times Union of they don't censor themselves or think about what Albany. The Associated Press office was upstairs that might be doled out, because I am not a their answer will look like in print before they celebrity. I am not supposed to get these perks. and I asked if they wanted me to freelance when I talk. Those are people who I love to interview. went back to New York - but they told me instead Journal : So what do you think about that whole about their minority internship program. I took Journal : Who was your favorite interview? “celebrity journalist” thing? the test, got the internship. I went back to Albany Nekesa: Prince. I went in there, thinking he would Nekesa: When you get at a certain level you for six years and worked as a general news- be talking with hand signals and aloof. But he was become a C-level celebrity.When I go to a party, I woman, in broadcasting, supervising, re-writing. I so open and willing to talk about different things. usually don't have to wait in line and I get a lot covered state politics, news, West Point football, He was much more conscious than I anticipated more access than if I were Joe Blow. Then when I state basketball championships with Stephon — and candid and frank. It was just us, with can- get in, I see the V-VIP section and want to be in Marbury, Elton Brand and Ron Artest. But I dles in a purple dressing room. We spoke for there. But I have to remind myself that I am not a always had a real love of entertainment. almost two hours — and it only ended because celebrity. It is not about me. As much as your the concert was drawing near! Journal : What was your first entertainment name becomes known, if I didn’t have this job I story? Journal : Whom do you want to talk to that you wouldn’t be getting in. If I took five years off and I Nekesa: My first feature was Brandy. I did it over haven’t? didn’t work for the AP,my wait in that line would the phone, because most people weren’t coming Nekesa: I have done two of the 80s trio Madonna be long. I probably wouldn't get in! to Albany. The more features I did, the more I and Prince. If I can do Michael Jackson, it would Journal : When I tried to call you last week, you enjoyed it. At the same time I loved editing. I be amazing. I am a huge Michael Jackson fan, but were running to the Country Music Awards. became a national editor in 1998 and moved to at the same time,I would have to write critical and What do you know about country music? New York. I honed my editing skills there and analytical stories about his stuff. Even if you like Nekesa: I know a lot about country music. Don’t continued to write entertainment stories. People somebody, you have to be objective and look at it know every Faith Hill or Dixie Chicks song. But joked that I was the black entertainment writer through another eye. Once you become a music the key to being a good music writer is not know- for AP. Around 2000, our music writer, who had writer, all that fandom goes outside the window. ing all of the minutia, but knowing the good sto- been there for 40 years, retired. I applied and got Journal : Okay, so tell me the Fiddy story. ries. I know who to focus on. Who the acts are. the job. Nekesa: 50 Cent was probably my most unusual. That is what I pride myself on. I have covered Journal : Why entertainment? We talked about all of his bullet wounds and at System of a Down, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Nekesa: I've always loved entertainment, but not one point, I could see his cheek and I asked, ‘Is Luciano Pavorotti. I knew the right questions to just the music or the movies _ the business part of that where the bullet went?’ He gets up and goes ask at that right moment. I don’t think that you it. I knew who the president of CBS Records was to the bathroom. I see him in there running water need to be a specialist in a certain genre. I had a when I was a kid and read Rolling Stone and and asked him what was he doing. He comes out, good time at the CMAs. Vanity Fair.I thought it would be fun to be an he takes my finger, wipes it off and puts it in his Journal : Do you ever find yourself star struck? entertainment writer. Still, I didn’t get into the mouth.He wanted me to feel where the bullet Nekesa: No.I never ask for a picture.Never ask for business saying I wanted to get into entertain- went. I was a little disgusted, but in a warped way, autograph. The moment you ask makes them ment.Especially in Albany,which is not a hotbed kind of flattered — I mean, of all the fingers in the assume you have admiration and awe of them. I of entertainment. world, he picked mine! But it was definitely kind don’t want them to think I am a fan. of weird. I can’t imagine Terrell Owens or Journal : What makes you good at what you do? President Bush putting my finger in their mouth. Journal : How long do you see yourself being a Nekesa: I think I know how to ask the right ques- music writer? tions and know how get the most revealing or Journal : That was pretty weird. Let’s move on. A Nekesa: I always wanted to be in entertainment, interesting nugget of information for my story. I lot of students that I meet often tell me that they features or even sports. I don't like hard news make my subjects comfortable enough to talk to want to be music critics. I bet you get that a lot. while there's good stories to be told, there are too me, but not in a buddy-buddy kind of way — Why do so many young people want your job? many depressing stories that in the past have real- maybe like a therapist! My focus is on storytelling Nekesa: I think they think what I do is fun. They ly weighed heavily on me. I once covered the and revealing as much about what makes a per- just think it is going to concerts every night,hang- funeral of a 7-year-old girl who was raped and son tick as possible. I don’t always do the most ing out with P. Diddy, drinking Cristal and going murdered. I don’t want to cover that stuff any- popular person.But if I do,I want to make it to the MTV Awards. It is very exciting, but my more. When I am able to talk one-on-one with interesting. I am not interested in who’s dating days have been filled with a lot of long nights. I someone, whether it's Madonna, Lil Jon or who, or the more gossipy stuff. Everyone has a write at least one long feature a week, about 1,100 Shakira, I usually leave enlightened and ener- really good story to tell. Hopefully, when you read words, multi-sourced. Sometimes I can do two or gized, and that's a blessing in any field.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 7 Goodbye, Mother Parks Civil rights icon will be sorely missed as friend of reporter’s family

BY ORALANDAR BRAND-WILLIAMS stand against an unjust system of Jim Crow of my stories. The years passed, and my THE DETROIT NEWS laws in the South made it possible for me mother's talks with Mrs. Parks became less and other African Americans to realize our frequent because of her many travels and Mrs. Parks died in her Detroit apartment dreams. advancing age. But she always stayed deep in Monday, Oct. 24, just five weeks before the I also thought of the quiet and unassum- our hearts and our prayers. 50th anniversary of her historic act of civil ing woman who always came to our westside In the few weeks since Mrs. Parks' death, I disobedience on an Alabama city bus on Detroit home with a warm smile and a help- can't help but think about the old adage that Dec. 1, 1955. Her actions that day gave rise ing hand. life sometimes goes full circle. to the modern civil rights movement, which Mrs. Parks was one of the first people who As an 8-year-old growing up in a working eventually led to the dismantling of segrega- greeted my family as we arrived in Detroit in class neighborhood of Detroit, I never tion laws throughout the country. Her deci- March 1963. We came north on a would have imagined that my love of books sion to ignore the demands of bus driver Greyhound bus seeking safety and refuge and words would someday lead me to James Blake to give up her seat so that a from the White Citiziens Council and others become a news reporter at a major daily white man could sit there unleashed an like them in Greenwood, Miss. My mother newspaper. I also would never had imagined unbridled spirit of determination among was a civil rights activist. She was among a that the sweet and quiet-spoken friend of black Americans who long ago had grown small group of blacks in Greenwood who my mom would become the subject of many weary of being treated like second-class cit- worked with the NAACP and the Student of my articles. izens by their fellow countrymen. Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in an When I covered celebrations honoring Mrs. Parks' decision not to back down from effort to gain voting rights for blacks in our Mrs. Parks, I always maintained a profes- a possible arrest that day helped bolster a small southern town. sional tone with her. Once my stories were strong black middle class and an abundance My mom had met Mrs. Parks years earli- filed, I always thought back to the soft touch of black doctors, lawyers, judges, college pro- er in the south during the early years of the she had with me and my siblings. I thought fessors and even journalists in America. civil rights movement. Once we arrived in about how lucky I was to have such a great Rosa Parks' legacy and death has resonat- Detroit, Mrs. Parks came to my mother's aid. woman in my life as a child. ed with me a lot in the past month and a half She did so by calling her friends and others Thank you, Mrs. Parks, for encouraging since her passing. My reflection of her life is to help the "woman from Mississippi" and me to follow my dreams. Thank you, Mrs. on many levels, but most notably a personal her children get clothed and settled. Parks, for your selfless act. Thank you, Mrs. one. Over the years, Mrs. Parks was a frequent Parks, for being the person you were. Mrs. Parks was not only a civil rights icon visitor to our home. She always came with Thank you, Mrs. Parks, for demonstrating whose life I often covered as part of the kind words and sage advice about staying in the value of quiet strength and dignity. Diversity and Race Relations beat for The school . Years later, when I graduated from Thank you, Mrs. Parks, for showing us the Detroit News. Mrs. Parks also was an old high school, I sent Mrs. Park an invitation to importance of humility. Thank you, Mrs. family friend. the graduation ceremony. She came and cre- Parks, for illustrating the necessity of leaving As I sat in the sanctuary of Greater Grace ated quite a commotion among my high one's comfort zone to make an impact on Temple in Detroit covering the seven-hour- school friends who couldn't believe that the world around us. long funeral for Mrs. Parks, I was at times Mrs. Parks was there. Thank you, Mrs. Parks, for leaving a lega- taken with my own grief over her passing. I graduated from the University of cy that is a constant reminder of the impor- I thought of the gentle-spirited woman Michigan and became a journalist and years tance of sacrifice. Thank you, Mrs. Parks, for whose decision to make a defiant and bold later, Mrs. Parks became the focus of many sharing your spirit with us all.

The 1948 General Motors bus on which Rosa Parks was arrested was acquired by Henry Ford Museum and displayed in 2001 at an event to mark the 46th anniversary of Rosa Parks’ arrest.

Montgomery County (Ala.)/AP Courtesy of Monica A. Morgan In the Montgomery Sheriff’s Dept. Mrs. Parks smiles as she rides the bus on which she protested to mark the booking photo, Rosa Parks remains 40th anniversary in 1995. resolute after being arrested. 8 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG Rosa Louise McCauley Parks 1913 – 2005

Photo Courtesy of Monica A. Morgan

Paul Warner/Associated Press Courtesy of Monica A. Morgan William Philpott/Reuters Mrs. Parks chats with then first lady Hillary Clinton in Mrs. Parks was presented with the 1995. Congressional Gold Medal on June 15, 1999, for her courateous act. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 9 COVERINGKATRINA AN NABJ SPECIAL REPORT

Willie J. Allen Jr./St. Petersburg Times Victims of Hurricane Katrina wait behind barricades set up by National Guard troops as they try to get on buses headed to Houston. Frustrated evacuees were cooped up in the Superdome under very primitive conditions. Baltimore Sun, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Detroit Free Press, the Associated Press, CNN, Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and other media companies. They reported from New Orleans, Biloxi, Miss., Gulfport , Miss. and Houston. Their reports brought food and water to the survivors, reunited families and led res- The Eye of cuers to those trapped on their roofs. Because 65 percent of New Orleans residents are black, the role black journalists played in covering Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was even more signifi- cant. This time we were there to tell our own story, just as the 44 NABJ founders intended 30 years ago when the Storm they started this organization. Our dream is no longer deferred. BY TAMMY L. CARTER Though the storms have passed, the story is far from Black NABJ REGION III DIRECTOR over. As Louisiana and Mississippi officials attempt to repair their coasts, many of their citizens remain home- When Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the less. The water finally has drained from New Orleans, journalists bus in 1955, she jumpstarted the Civil Rights but the city still is in critical condition. Families have Movement. At that time, however, there were few – if been separated, businesses closed, and services stalled. any – black journalists working at white media com- Though politicians are trying to remain positive, the report from panies to cover one of the biggest events of the era. future of New Orleans remains dicey. Many of its citi- Fifty years later, Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf zens already have decided not to return. Coast, displacing most of the residents of New As this story continues to unfold, black journalists Hurricane Orleans. Another major event had occurred, but this will continue to follow it. They will continue to pro- time dozens of black reporters were sent to cover the vide thorough as well as sensitive reports.They will big story. Whether they were reporting, anchoring, continue to ask tough questions. They will continue to shooting video, taking photographs or producing hold government officials accountable. Katrina news segments, black journalists were there, not on the Most important,they will continue to prove what sidelines as in decades past. our founders knew all along: Black journalists are an They came representing the New York Times, the exemplary group of professionals who honor excel- Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the lence and outstanding achievement. 10 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG on Monday or Tuesday. Some power crews don't After the Clorox, water have hotel rooms and little to eat. There's also information about shelters and feeding centers. storm, going bottles and a Down the road in the county outside back home cat named Leakesville, state prison inmates in white T-shirts and green-and-white striped pants are the labor- BY STEVEN GRAY Boots ers who load water and ice as vehicles pull up in an empty field across from Greene County High Last month, when I BY CINDY GEORGE School. A man pulls up with packs of Black and was sent to Louisiana Mild cigars and asks the burly man in charge if to cover Hurricane I spent in a week and the fellows can have them. The man says yes. Katrina's aftermath, drove 1,200 miles in relatives who'd fled Steven Gray the Gulf Coast region Cindy George New Orleans before Wall Street Journal writing stories from the storm's arrival News & Observer From New Orleans Leakesville in rural made two requests: “Be Mississippi, Mobile, From Gulfport, Miss. Poverty, racism safe. Check on the Ala. and the coastal & Leakesville, Miss. house.” Mississippi towns of and now a I'd reported from all over my hometown, yet Biloxi, Gulfport and hadn't seen my 70-year-old grandmother's house Waveland. hurricane in the Lower Ninth Ward. So early one morning, BY ERRIN HAINES I drove my SUV between military checkpoints Here's a dispatch from Gulfport, Miss.: and crossed the Industrial Canal into the neigh- I‘ve seen cotton borhood my family settled in nearly a century I also met two young men, who walked a ways before. But never ago after selling large tracts of land in St. Bernard from their trailer park to collect water in milk stretched across so Parish.Over the decades,the neighborhood had jugs, Clorox jugs and water bottles for drinking many miles of land- become a prideless, crime-ridden eyesore. But and washing. The home they share with their scape, never as such a the post-Katrina scene was worse than I'd mother has had no power or water for six days, Errin Haines dominant force in a expected: Floodwaters had lifted cars from drive- they said. The family rode out the storm in the town, of a people. In Associated Press ways onto the “neutral ground,” as New second floor of an apartment complex. The roof the Mississippi Delta, I (Atlanta) Orleanians call the patch of grass between lanes. caved in, water gushed inside and the unit's bal- saw bales and bales of From the Trees had been pulled out the ground by wind or cony fell off. cotton: stacked along been killed by water that rushed in from Lake “We walked down to the beach and pretty Mississippi Delta two-lane highways, Pontchatrain. Homes had been knocked off their much everything is gone,” said 15-year-old jostling in tractor-trail- foundations. And the few homes that remained Maurice Craft who was walking with his brother, ers, strewn on the side were slathered with a grayish mud that strangely Clifton Craft, 13, swinging heavy water contain- of the road like lint. glistened in the sunlight. Streets were eerily ers on their walk back home. About a month after Hurricane Katrina rav- silent, covered in a thick, greenish mud. It was “The workers are moving down there trying to aged New Orleans and the Gulf coasts of otherworldly. get everything straightened,” Maurice said. “We Alabama and Mississippi, I asked my editors to Driving along Caffin Avenue, near Grandma's feel real bad right now.” send me to a story I thought we'd missed: the house, my SUV began spinning in mud. For sev- The landscape on the beach reminds me of the Mississippi Delta. It was a gamble, since the area eral minutes, I was trapped. I panicked. movie “Planet of the Apes,” where the place you suffered no physical damage from Katrina. But I There was no way I could reach Grandma's once knew doesn't look like itself anymore, wondered, "What happens when people ask for house. where buildings aren't where they once were and help in a place that can barely help itself?” My Yesterday, however, my parents finished the icons of a place are sticking out, randomly, from editors decided they and readers might be inter- job, returning to New Orleans for the first time. the sand. The water had receded.At its peak, the water had ested in the answer, too. I'm black and from the South. Seeing that reached the 10th step leading to the second floor And another from Leakesville, Miss., about 100 much cotton has a way of making people like me of grandma's house. A portrait of my great- miles inland: grandmother, fair-skinned with sharp Native uncomfortable. I thought of black people, my people, stooped over those bushes, sacks slung American facial features and long black hair, was I’m more than 100 miles inland, and the storm over their bent backs for hours. missing from Grandma's salon. A portrait of broke pine trees like a third-grader breaks pen- But this wasn't 50 or 100 years ago. It was a few Grandma done before Brenda Joysmith became cils. I'm in southern Mississippi to see how peo- weeks ago. People younger than my mother are Brenda Joysmith was destroyed. "I can't explain ple are faring inland. still picking cotton here, for $5.15 an hour, and how painful it was, seeing that," my mother told I found Ila Rae and Doyle Watkins enjoying some of them told me it was the only official job me, as I boarded a flight from San Francisco back the breeze on the porch of their Leakesville, they would have all year. to the Midwest. As my mom and dad searched Miss., home. This is rural Mississippi, where they I knew I had to go to the Delta.While covering the house, my mom's cell phone rang. It was were glad to welcome me to sit with them. They both rescuers and rescuees in Atlanta for the Grandma, calling from my uncle's suburban and their cat, Boots, have been getting by with a Associated Press, I realized there were an untold Dallas home. Inside one of her favorite coats, generator hooked to their motor home in the number of folks who had flooded the region – Grandma said, was a bundle of cash. Turns out driveway. She’s 81 and a retired teacher, and he's with people. Some were returning to their roots the coat had fallen off its hanger, to the closet's a 78-year-old retired truck driver. after leaving to eke out a better life. Others, as I floor. In various pockets were bundles of $20 On the radio, some banks have announced wrote in my story, got as far as they could on a bills, bound by rubber bands. The total amount: they'll be open on Labor Day and local Social tank of gas. Much like the devastation of a hurri- $2,000. Security agents are trying to get first-of-the- cane, it’s one thing to hear about the Delta, but Sadly, that's about all that can be salvaged from month checks out on Monday. It's been a week, another thing altogether to look out onto the Grandma's house. Hurricane Betsy's floodwaters and there's still no mail service in these parts. horizon and see nothing but a lonely church, a nearly destroyed it in 1965. Grandpa, then with Officials are beginning to offer emergency food few shotgun homes and a cotton gin towering six kids, quickly rebuilt it. stamps. Airplay out of the Big Easy comes from over a barren cotton field. It's safe to say he won't, this time. the United Radio Broadcasters of New Orleans, Driving the narrow roads along the Missis- who seem to come from different stations possi- sippi River on the Mississippi-Louisiana border, bly owned by different companies. Mississippi it was hard not to think about what a hopeless listeners are calling stations in Hattiesburg, and situation my people here must be in. There were Mobile, to ask if their work places will be open no jobs, there was no training, nothing new had

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 11 COVERINGKATRINA AN NABJ SPECIAL REPORT been built in some of these places in my lifetime. homes; storefronts without the stores behind And now there are more mouths to feed. Not a savior, them; families who slept in cars because there When I stopped in towns like Waterproof, but a reporter was nowhere to stay; children who went days Tallulah and St. Joseph in Louisiana or Midnight, without a drink of water; areas riddled with so BY CYNTHIA DANIELS Miss., the reactions I got from people ranged much devastation it was hard to decipher where from suspicion to desperation to indifference to a house once stood. optimism.Yes,people are poor, and they know it. To some, I But they loved their small town charm. They are appeared as a savior Each morning, I set out determined to find rich in so many other ways. By the time I left, it — the only one who people's stories and families' plights that I could was usually much harder for me to feel badly for could bring relief to tell our readers. Each day, I moved past the dev- them or to wonder why they stay around. an ever-dismal situa- Cynthia Daniels astation, the rancid smell of dead bodies and the tion.To others,I was New York Newsday tears, to report. I looked past the fact that I had Poverty there is like the Mississippi: strong, a connection to the touching everything and overwhelmingly outside world. Yet to From Mississippi’s never seen anything like this in my life and I brown. I left with a story, but few answers, hop- myself, I was simply a Gulf Coast crafted stories that will serve as a testament of ing someone smarter than I am is working on a reporter — one of this national crisis. solution – and that I can report it while they do. many sent to Mississippi's Gulf Coast to cover It was my job to tell the story.And I, along with the destruction Hurricane Katrina left behind. my colleagues, did just that to the best of our Katrina was my first national assignment, my ability. So many people thanked us, praised us, first hurricane assignment and my journalistic said “Without ya'll they would have no idea what test. Could I find the stories, report them and file happened to us.”They wanted to return the favor. them, all the while working without a function- (Below) Cynthia Daniels of ing cell phone or laptop and living with no bed, It wasn't necessary. There have been so many Newsday interviews firefighter no running water and little food? times, where we, as the media, have gotten the along beach in Biloxi. Most of I arrived on the Coast the Tuesday after story wrong — but not this time. the businesses — including the Katrina hit. Along that 60-mile strip, I discov- We brought light to a dire situation and for casinos there — were destroyed. ered miles of foundations lacking their luxurious that we should be proud. I was.

Bryan Monroe/Knight Ridder Courtesy of Monica A. Morgan 12 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG Patricia Money prays during Sunday Mass at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church in Biloxi, Miss. Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005. Brandi Jade Thomas/St. Paul Pioneer Press COVERINGKATRINA AN NABJ SPECIAL REPORT CWB: Coping while black

BY LAWRENCE AARON the exception. Now they are torn between estab- members authored and introduced Nov. 2. It lishing new lives in the communities where includes the right of return and a victims' com- Black was the domi- they've landed or trying to go back to a city that pensation fund for the Hurricane Katrina evac- nant color left behind would rather move on without them. uees. after Hurricane For 2006, Mardi Gras may be scaled back a bit, Hundreds of thousands may never go home Katrina slammed New but visitors and residents can count on cavorting again to New Orleans and the familiar gumbo Orleans. It took several in the French Quarter and other parts of the city that doesn't taste right anywhere else. Still unan- days, however, for the Feb. 28. Come hell or high water: Laissez les bons swered are questions about mortgages on unliv- national press to report temps rouler. It's uncertain whether the able homes, insurance settlements on property on race as an element February elections will take place. Mayor Ray the city may condemn. Homeowners with unin- necessary for under- Nagin is running for another term. As of late sured homes, which is about half the destroyed standing the story. November about 80 percent of the city's black housing stock, may have no choice but to sell to Damaged levees sent residents had not returned from the 41 state developers. flood waters coursing they've drifted to. The 67 percent black majority Still unsettled are allegations that the black through the city's streets that first week in is no more. Absentee ballots are not likely to be Ninth Ward and other low-lying areas were September. Flushed into the sunlight were the distributed to them very aggressively. Numerous, deliberately flooded out. byproducts of centuries racial politics that had but not strong or rich enough to save themselves When Katrina arrived, the media hit the festered, barely seen, in New Orleans' neighbor- from being overpowered, black New Orleanians ground running. Intent on wrapping up stories hoods. are being encouraged to rebuild their lives per- on deadline under difficult circumstances, they To visitors fueling the city's $5 billion tourism manently in the safe havens they have found grabbed the obvious images of fleeing, flooding, industry, New Orleans was the painted-face elsewhere. looting and chaos. party girl, a little ditzy and frayed at the edges, Homes in the black areas are either flattened, Those initial reports left the damning impres- but always ready for a good time. or if still standing, dangerously contaminated sion that the black residents stayed in town to Hidden from view were the now-flooded with mold and filth. Areas are on flood prone take advantage of the five-finger discount. neighborhoods where one-third of the city's res- land that would need levees higher and stronger Indeed some were seen running off with TVs idents lived below the poverty line. These people than the ones that failed. Only an intense organ- and nonessential goods. But let's remember were in no way ready for the natural disaster and ized movement can preserve any rights they may those who took Pampers and other essentials manmade negligence that unmoored their lives. claim. The Congressional Black Caucus faces were beginning to understand that they would Subsistence level income was the rule rather than heavy opposition to the comprehensive bill be without food and water for an unknown peri-

Father Chris Munsch prays André Chung/Baltimore Sun during mass at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church A team from the Los Angeles in Gulfport, Miss. Thursday, Fire Department patrols near Sept. 1, 2005. Despite the the I-10. Marines from the storm, the church held 8:30 4AA Battalion in Tampa, Fla., mass every morning. go on a search and rescue Brandi Jade Thomas / mission in East New Orleans. St. Paul Pioneer Press In amphibious assault vehicles, they drove down streets with more than six feet of water in places. The team didn't encounter any survivors, but bodies were seen and their positions noted for later retrieval.

14 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG COVERINGKATRINA AN NABJ SPECIAL REPORT od. It took a few days for the national media to anyway, so this - this is working very well for New Orleans is at a crossroads. Oh, yeah, the get off the looting and address the obvious: Why them." tourist town can be rebuilt, all right. But race are the people in the worst, most squalid, most For weeks, reporters moved to outrage by the relations in the South may take longer. Decades vulnerable situations all black? chaos and confusion, relaxed the rules and of building better race relations in the new South Initial reports did a disservice, labeling blacks allowed themselves to show personal compas- may prove to be just a sham. Planning for the as looters while describing whites in less damn- sion. That was good for keeping the human side new New Orleans means strengthening the lev- ing terms. The reporters, editors, producers and of the story alive. Uncovering the forces that cre- ees, restoring the water and utilities, rebuilding their crews went for the easy story, not appreciat- ated the mess took more diligent effort. businesses, big and small, and welcoming back ing the complexity of what they were seeing and The evacuees – not refugees or "fugitives" as the African-American working poor residents ignoring in their early reports the level of stress the New York Times referred to them – were not who should be returned closer to New Orleans in the survivors were experiencing. the kind of people who would normally drive to temporary housing. Without a lot of outside To their credit, however, once media people the supermarket and empty the bread shelves. help, dispersed residents will be squeezed out. In realized that FEMA, the mayor, the absent presi- They live check to check, day by day, without the addition to Congressional Black Caucus and dent Bush, the governor and the police were not resources to stash away three days of emergency NAACP Legal Defense Fund efforts, the serving the interests of those people, they looked provisions. Obvious in every shot were crowds Brooklyn, N.Y. — based Association of for and wrote about the governmental failures of dark-skinned victims of disaster. The African- Community Organization for Reform Now – or responsible for the huge holes in the safety net. Americans were stuck. The vulnerability of sur- ACORN, has shown some savvy in organizing The embodiment of the attitudes that created vivors varied in direct proportion to their pover- for the long battle ahead. Operation PUSH is the problem was Michael Brown, the unqualified ty. The more money they had the more options mobilizing to keep residents interests on the FEMA director appointed by the president. available. The same will hold true for those try- front burner. Then it took the president days to go to the ing to get back home. Every aspect of the hurri- This story has many more chapters still to be stricken area. When he arrived, he declined to cane, the shelters, the evacuation, the emergency written. Given the media habit of reaching pre- face the suffering black masses at the Superdome response, the reconstruction, relocation and maturely for a happy ending, it's essential to stay and Convention Center. His mother, Barbara, the recovery can't be understood completely unless on top of this before rebuilding and recovery compassionate one, dropped a bombshell full of race, class and wealth are factored into the dis- plans are cast in concrete, shutting out black and elitist let-them-eat-cake disdain for the masses of cussion. Heavy use of eminent domain, author- other poor residents while billion dollar con- black survivors stuck in misery, squalor and fear ized in a congressional bill to create the tracts are handed out. of the unknown. Louisiana Recovery Corp. would create new bar- The same forces that created chaos for "What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is riers for residents trying to return. The condem- Katrina's survivors – race, color, ethnicity, they all want to stay in Texas," Barbara Bush said, nation provision was removed, but there will be money, and self-interest – drive every decision to expressing concern that the black shelter plenty of opportunities for government to steam- be made about the future of this treasured and dwellers would want to stay in her son's home roll property owners for the sake of developers. unique American city. state. "Everybody is so overwhelmed by all the They are poor,scattered,disorganized and hospitality. And so many of the peoples in the unsure whether their chances or survival are bet- Lawrence Aaron is a columnist for The Record in arena here, you know, they're underprivileged ter away or back home. Bergen County, N.J.

Willie J. Allen Jr./St. Petersburg Times

Victims of Hurricane Katrina argue with National Guard troops as they try to get on buses headed to Houston.

André Chung/Baltimore Sun

Sierra Smith, 8, speaks to a National Guard worker after she and other evauees were relocated from their school.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 15 André Chung/Baltimore Sun A corpse is marked and left for retrieval at Carrollton Ave. near the I-10. As residents try to return to their homes they drive by the horrible after- math of the storm. New Orleans continues to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As the water recedes in some areas of the city, bodies are stranded on sidewalks. In other areas, residents who lost their homes camp out in open areas on higher ground.

Carl Juste/Miami Herald FDNY Alfred Benjamin staggers out of building 911 after he and others gain control of the fire. New Orleans and New York City Fire Departments responded to a fire in the French Quarter (911 Burgundy Street). No one was hurt and no one seemed to be in the building at the time. The cause of fire was yet determined at the time.

Courtesy of Monica A. Morgan Through the fire...through whatever comes what may...a mother finds time to share a kiss with her son after being rescued from New Orleans and settling down in their temporary housing at the Astrodome in Houston.

16 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG Willie J. Allen Jr./St. Petersburg Times After being rescued from his home by boat Brian Gayton cries for his grandmother that he lost during Hurricane Katrina in the Ninth Ward district on Tuesday. COVERINGKATRINA AN NABJ SPECIAL REPORT

André F. Chung/Baltimore Sun The disaster double-whammy Back-to-back storms bring the Black College Wire, The Black Collegian together

BY PEARL STEWART dents' ordeal. FOUNDER AND COORDINATOR ONLINE We also asked our BLACK COLLEGE WIRE Black College Wire Hurricane Katrina Stories: writers to find infor- mation about servic- Just as Hurricanes Katrina and http://www.blackcollegewire.org/news/050902_katrina-dillard es for the thousands Rita brought numerous organiza- http://www.blackcollegewire.org/news/050903_katrina-rescue of displaced HBCU tions and agencies together to aid the http://www.blackcollegewire.org/news/050907_katrina-mississippi students, and others evacuees and their families, these http://www.blackcollegewire.org/news/051005_katrina-harris who were safe but back-to-back disasters led the Black whose families and College Wire and The Black Joint “Black Collegian/Black College Wire Katrina project": friends suffered Collegian to join forces to provide a http://www.imdiversity.com/special/bannister_katrina_photos.asp losses. broad range of coverage for our read- Willie J. Allen Jr./St. Petersburg Times We compiled lists ers. (Above) In front of the Burgers of colleges offering Although we are different in ing the hurricane victims they were New Orleans fast-food free transfers and agencies providing design and corporate status — one is covering. restaurant, a Mardi Gras mask disaster aid specifically for students. a non-profit service and the other is a Our coverage began with articles lays in three inches of muck in In addition to our dedicated writ- for-profit business — we combined about evacuations at HBCUs in the the ninth ward district in New ers, our editors, Richard Prince and resources to offer information to stu- Gulf region. The Black College Wire Orleans. (Top) Allen “Sarge” Jean Thompson, made this collabora- dents and families who were affected was the only news organization on Smith, 55 (left), helps his tive effort a reality. They honed the by the hurricanes. the scene at Grambling State and neighbor, Frank Stewart, 77, students' fine work into the best jour- It is with great pride that we share Southern Universities for the evacuate. The school had nalism Black College Wire has pre- articles written by talented college overnight arrival of buses carrying become a designated evacuation sented to date. We are honored to students from HBCUs in and around 400 rescued Xavier University stu- point, and the Coast Guard and include these articles in this venera- the disaster areas. Often these stu- dents and staff. Our student corre- Army National Guard air-lifted ble publication. dents were reporting and writing spondents were able to produce a 18 people from the roof. articles amid the same challenges fac- credible account of the Xavier stu-

18 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG from the student rep MASHAUN D. SIMON On the yard and ready to work

We have gotten off to a great start what I have done. That is truly not in these first few months of the on purpose. 2005-2007 terms. About NABJ Student Services So let me take the time to tell you In the last months of 2005, I and As part of its commitment to our student and to enhance racial and gender diversity in a little about what your peers and the NABJ Student Council have members and aspiring journalists, NABJ pro- sports departments of newspapers nation- colleagues are doing. worked hard along with the local vides the following as part of its Student wide. The Columbia College Chapter of officers and membership to update Education Enrichment and Development Deadline: January 2 (SEED) Program. More information and NABJ has doubled their member- chapter leadership and contacts. application forms can be found online at: Scholarship Program ship since last spring. They partici- We have worked to successfully http://www.nabj.org/programs/index.html Annually, NABJ awards deserving students pate as a group feeding the homeless hold the first NABJ Student interested in pursuing a career in journalism once a month at a local church in Chapter Audit that will help NABJ Student Membership awards of more than $30,000 in NABJ Chicago, have started a monthly and the staff to best update chapter All NABJ programs require student member- scholarships. Each scholarship is worth up to newsletter and are planning to host ship to participate. For only $25 per year, $5,000. Scholarships are open to any foreign information as well as ensure that students can become a member of NABJ and or American born students, currently attend- a black-tie event to honor area jour- all chapters are operating success- receive the "NABJ Journal," information on ing an accredited four-year college/university nalists in the spring. fully and in compliance with NABJ, career development, members-only access to in the U.S. or those who are candidates for The proceeds of this event will its missions, goals and purpose. the web site, NABJobs Online for employ- graduate school. benefit students and their families We have moved successfully in ment opportunities across the United States Deadline: April 1 affected by Hurricane Katrina. and participate in the SEED Program. the direction to implement a grant Student Career Mentoring Program Invited guests include: Senator program for student chapters that To join the NABJstudent listserve and receive The NABJ Career Mentoring Program match- Barack Obama, Richard Dent will best help them in their efforts the nabjstudentinformer e-newsletter, email es students and new professionals with dedi- (Chicago Bears), John Legend, Jamie of programming and service to NABJ Student Representative Mashaun D. cated members wanting to ensure that the Foxx, and Jesse Jackson and tickets their membership locally. Simon at [email protected] next generation of black journalists thrives in will be $100. the newsroom. This year-long process will We have also worked to make Student Short Courses help young journalists understand the proper They have also extended an offer sure communication is better than NABJ offers print and broadcast short cours- protocol and the culture of the newsroom. It to assist the Indianapolis NABJ ever between me and all NABJ stu- es to journalism students on the campuses of will also give them the chance to listen to chapter with preparations for the dent members. historically black colleges or on college cam- people who have already gone through what 2006 convention. I promised when I ran for this puses with a large African-American student they will have to face and that can help guide The University of Texas at Austin position that I would make myself enrollment. NABJ's short courses strengthen them through the proper channels for their the existing programs. professional expectations. chapter of NABJ have planned a as accessible to you as I could and I speaker series of four forums that have done a good job in fulfilling The short courses are taught by teams of Student Projects at the Convention will spotlight four issues they feel that promise. professional journalists who provide students NABJ offers four student projects during its are important and need to be dis- If you do not believe me, just ask with information about careers in the indus- annual convention. These projects include: cussed. any student who has reached out to try, training in writing, reporting and editing, NABJ-TV, a student-produced nightly half- They also plan to do a brown bag and tips on job interviews and landing the hour newscast; the NABJ Monitor, a daily me with questions or concerns. I first job or internship. These are ongoing. convention newspaper; NABJ Radio, a stu- with professionals which will allow have spent hours on the phone just Deadline: January 16 dent-produced radio news program, and UTA members and local profession- in the last few months answering • On March 15-18, 2006, NABJ will host a NABJ Online, the NABJ convention Web site. als the sit down together. This questions, helping students with TV short course on the campus of North should be a nice mentor/mentee school and chapter issues and pass- Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro. African American college students majoring type of program. in broadcast journalism, communications, tel- ing on advice. I have spent many Internship Program evision production, print journalism, or who They are also in the process of hours online via Instant Messenger NABJ is dedicated to expanding job opportu- are pursuing a career in broadcast journal- producing a newspaper and are chats with student members who nities for black journalism students. NABJ ism, print journalism, or news media journal- planning to start mentoring at a have concerns, frustrations and annually awards summer internships to stu- ism are invited to submit an application to local high school. fears. dents committed to journalism careers. participate in the NABJ student projects. Hopefully in the next two years, Successful candidates are offered paid print, And not only have I reached out broadcast or on-line positions at selected NABJ student projects will give students we will be able to tell of the plans to students, but also professionals news organizations around the country rang- from various backgrounds an opportunity to and successes of all of our chapters. who have issues and concerns. I ing from small Black-owned weekly newspa- work side by side in the real world of daily So far I have received at least six would like to believe that my role as pers to major market dailies and broadcast deadlines and production pressures. The e-mails from chapter leaders claim- the NABJ Student Representative is outlets. hands-on experience will expand their knowl- ing NABJ Student Chapter of the one that does not and should not edge of the total news business -from gath- Sports Journalism Institute ering news, to the mechanical workings of Year in 2006. limit me to just student members. The Sports Journalism Institute is a nine- the press, to the Internet. As you can see, there are great The issues and concerns that week training and internship program for col- things in the works for NABJ professionals face are important to lege students interested in sports journalism For more information about SEED Programs, nationally and locally. I look for- me as well. Without the profession- careers. The Institute is designed to attract contact the NABJ national office at (301) ward to talking with you more, als to serve as mentors and advi- talented students to print journalism through 445-7100, x108. working with you all and all of our opportunities in sports reporting and editing sors, I cannot best serve the student successes together. membership. When I have helped a If at anytime you need to, feel free professional, I have helped a stu- to contact me so that we can talk dent. travel plans as well as looked to bers and chapters to “break bread” and share with one another! My e-newsletter, the NABJ them for suggestions and advice on and talk about the issues that we as Until then, be successful and Student Informer currently has a lit- major decisions that affect them. student face today and in the future. blessed! tle more than 200 members sub- And while we are on the topic of Great things are taking place! scribed to it. Through the Informer travels, I have worked to incorporate As I make it halfway through this Mashaun D. Simon, I have communicated with mem- time in my personal or business message I noticed that I have spent a at [email protected] or bers about jobs and internships, my travel plans to meet with local mem- lot of time talking about myself and 678-760-2099.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 19 2005 Convention & Career Fair: A Look Back NABJ invited its members to Atlanta for our 30th Anniversary Convention and Career Fair, Aug. 3-7, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. The 2005 convention attracted more than 3,200 attendees, the largest professional gathering devoted to journalists of color in America that year. The 30th anniversary convention's theme — “Telling Our Story" — reflected NABJ’s goal to continue to voice the passion, pride, purpose and power of black journalists.

Former NABJ Presidents Herbert Lowe, Vanessa Williams, Tom NABJ board and staff pray with Bishop T.D. Jakes. Morgan, Chuck Stone and Condace Pressley.

Newly-elected NABJ President Bryan Monroe enjoys a NABJ Babies celebrate 15 years of student programming. moment with his wife Tahirah Monroe.

The Whispers The Honorable Andrew Young Gospel Singer Micah Stampley 20 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG Former President Bill Clinton made history by speaking for the third time at an NABJ convention. Clinton spoke in 1992, when he was running for presi- dent; in 1997 during his second term in office and in 2005, during NABJ’s 30th anniversary. Photos on this page and previous page by Jason Miccolo Johnson NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 21 22 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG tip sheet JEROME THOMPSON 3-D graphics made easy Gaze the covers and pages of mainstream magazines, get ensnared by it how something happens, then 3-D can become a very powerful solution. on Web-based applications or discover it in your local newspaper. 3-D Photography can only capture frames of the scene, where in 3-D you can graphics are everywhere. It seems everyone is creating them.Without ques- recreate the entire scene and show everything at one time. We have a tion, newsrooms across the nation are implementing this form of medium. responsibility to our readers to not make them think that something is a It is exciting and dynamic. Although 3-D has been around for many years, photograph when it is actually a 3-D model. 3-D design has clearly made its mark on the news graphics industry in the Why should 3-D be used in newsrooms? Educate, educate, educate! Did last seven years. It gave us the ability to think and execute ... well, in 3-D. I say it simply enough? We want to educate our readers. Again, it is person- Never again are we limited to the two-dimensional world. Information al preference, but I would advise to consider implementing 3-D design if design can be taken to another level by use of this technology. you are not currently doing so.You will not use it every day but it sure does Not all 3-D programs are the same. Some programs are more robust and come in handy when the right project comes along. Used correctly, it gives in-depth than others. Some have lower learning curves. Others are beasts readers another level of understanding of information you are trying to to grasp and learn. Usually, the soft- wares that are the most difficult to learn (and sometimes more expen- sive) are the ones that offer more qual- ity in the final product (graphic). Learning 3-D requires persever- ance, studying and a lot of patience. Moving from a 2-D world into a 3-D world can become challenging. You are designing in space.You are dealing with textures and creating light sources. Oh and don’t forget any ani- mation you would like to implement for online projects. There are classes that teach 3-D design, but it might be difficult to find one that teaches a spe- cific software. As more interest devel- ops for learning, classes for every soft- ware available will be easily accessible. In the meantime, there are plenty of books and online tutorials to help those who have the strong will to learn. The learning process is ongoing. So don’t think you can learn every- thing there is about 3-D design in a weekend classroom. Unless you are a prodigy, it can be done. But I can safe- ly assume we are all normal folks, right? There are many things that go into developing a 3-D graphic. You start like any other project by brainstorm- ing creative ideas. When a final con- cept is chosen, studying the concept would be the next step. By studying, I mean three things: How it will be modeled; what kind of environment will be created, which includes light- ing and camera angles; and how long it will take to create and render. Depending on the size, a project can take anywhere from a couple of convey. It gives the story added dimensions. No pun intended! hours to weeks. It could take one artist or a team of artists to execute. That 3-D design is going to be here for a very long time, and it will continue is why it is important that everyone be involved when planning for a proj- to become more advanced. Many visual journalists will discover new ways ect. That means editors, reporters, researchers, artists, as well as copy edi- to push information design to another level by the use of it. Many have tors.Why copy editors? Copy editors see things that some of us can’t see or already, creating highly informative graphics. The future is bright and the don’t question. The last thing you want to happen is that your model be opportunity is there to participate in this creative form of visual journal- incomplete or incorrect. ism. What are you waiting for? Jump in! When is it necessary to use 3-D? This question will be asked time and time again. Yes, 3-D has the ability to produce great images that look as if Jerome Thompson is a senior visual journalist at the Atlanta Journal- they were taken by a camera. If it can be taken with a camera, use the cam- Constitution era. If it is something that needs in-depth explanation of what, where and

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 23 2005 Salute to Excel NABJ’s annual journalism awards competition recognizes outstanding coverage of people or important issues in the African diaspora, in categories for print, radio, television and new media. The Salute to Excellence Awards maintains our commitment to honor the outstanding achievements of black journalists and the media industry.

Awards Gala Chair Barbara Ciara, Lynn Norment Leah Fleming (WABE-FM Atlanta) and guest (Managing Editor of Ebony Magazine) and Allison Hunter- Williams, Executive Producer at WGN (Chicago)

Linda Waller and Parliamentarian Melanie Burney Region VI Director V.W. Vaughan gets pinned by Marketing & Publications Manager Maria A. Newman

NABJ President Bryan Monroe, Patricia Blanchet (wife of NABJ members laughing it up at the Awards Gala Ed Bradley), Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ed Bradley, Executive Director Tangie Newborn and Region II Director J. Elliott Lewis 24 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG ellence Awards Gala The finalists were honored and winners announced at the Salute to Excellence Awards Gala, Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. Also recognized were the Lifetime Achievement, Journalist of the Year, Community Service, Ida B. Wells and Emerging Journalist special honors recipients. Photos by Jason Miccolo Johnson

Dawn Collins, daughter of the late Derek Ali (a reporter at Ida B. Wells Award recipient Reginald Stuart The Dayton Daily News), accepts the Community Service Award in her father’s honor.

2005 Awards Gala presenter Vic Carter, News Anchor NABJ President Bryan Monroe and Executive Director at WJZ (Baltimore) Tangie Newborn present Reginald Dennis (Night Manager at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel) with a proclamation.

1st place winner in Television - News/Short Form: Kim 1st place winner in Television - News/Long Form: Michel Kennedy, John Roberts and Patricia Shevlin, CBS Evening Martin (right), Nightline (ABC News), “Critical Condition: News Weekend Edition, “Florida Voters” America’s Obesity Crisis”

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 25 2005 Salute to Excellence Awards Gala Photos by: Jason Miccolo Johnson

Awards Gala Emcee/Founder Maureen Bunyan and guest Emerging Journalist of the Year Award recipient Krissah Williams of The Washington Post

Journalist of the Year Award recipient Andy Alford of the Kathy McCampbell Vance, NBC4 News Anchor Jim Vance, Austin-American Statesman Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ed Bradley and Patricia Blanchet

R&B and jazz vocalist Angela Bofill sings at the 2005 NABJ members enjoy the hip hop, R&B, classically trained Awards Gala sounds of Black Violin

26 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG For NABJ Office Use

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the administration of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Collins Spencer joined WSB-TV in Atlanta to co-anchor Changing Places Action News "This Morning." Vanessa Gallman, editorial page editor of the Lexington Caesar Andrews was named executive editor of the Detroit (Ky.) Herald-Leader, was elected treasurer of the National Free Press. Andrews had been editor of Gannett News Sheila Stainback, a New York-based former television Conference of Editorial Writers. Service. anchor, has been named press secretary for the New York City Administration for Children Services. Kimbriell Kelly of the Chicago Reporter has been chosen for Dean Baquet was named Editor of the L.A. Times. The the 2005 Racial Justice Fellowship Award by members of the newspaper becomes the largest circulation daily paper with Pearl Stewart has joined the School of Mass Communication University of Southern California's Annenberg's Institute for an African American editor. and Journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi as a Justice and Journalism. part-time professor. Talia Buford, former editor of Hampton University's Bennie Ivory, executive editor and vice president/news of Hampton Script when it was seized in 2003 by the university Betty Anne Williams has been hired as the managing editor the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, and Ward Bushee, edi- administration, started at the Providence Journal as a two- overseeing regional coverage at the Gazette-Star newspapers tor and vice president/news of the Arizona Republic in year intern. in Prince George's County, Md. Phoenix, are the first two winners of a new Signet Award for Gannett executives who have been cited 10 times as Denise Bridges joined the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., as Alan Whitt joined the Nashville Tennessean as assistant President's Ring winners. director of recruitment and staff development. managing editor for sports. ‘The Boondocks,’ the new animated series based on the Kenneth Bunting, the only African American top editor at comic strip by Aaron McGruder, delivered record ratings in Hearst Corp. newspapers, stepped down as executive editor its Cartoon Network premiere. A total of 1.6 million viewers of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to assume the new position tuned in for the 11 p.m. Sunday show. of associate publisher. Leaving Dorothy Bland and Michael Limon were laid off as publisher Thomas Morgan III, a former president of the National Nicholas Charles, a former reporter at the New York Daily and executive editor, respectively, of the Gannett Co.'s Fort Association of Black Journalists was inducted into the Hall News and People magazine, was named editor of the AOL Collins Coloradoan. of Fame of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Black Voices Web site. Association. Ken Parish Perkins has resigned from Texas' Fort Worth Keith Clinkscales, former CEO of Vibe magazine and later Star-Telegram over plagiarism charges. Vanguarde Media, joined ESPN as senior vice president and general manager of ESPN publishing. Joshua 'Fahiym' Ratcliffe resigned his position as Editor-in- Chief of The Source Magazine. Passages Eric Deggans has been named media critic for the St. Akilah Amapindi, a 23-year-old journalist and recent gradu- Petersburg Times. Charlotte Roy, who guided the development of the New ate of Kenyon College, died Aug. 8, in Atlanta during the York Times Co.'s first black-oriented newspaper, left the NABJ convention. Amapindi, who had come to the conven- Kimberly Godwin, was named assistant news director at paper Aug. 23, a day before the first issue of the Gainesville tion to work on the student project, was stricken with New York's WCBS-TV. Sun was set to hit newsstands. malaria during an earlier internship in Africa. To mark her death, NABJ and the Atlanta Association of Black Ric Harris was named executive vice president and general WSB-TV Atlanta morning and noon co-anchor Warren Journalists raised over $11,000 at the convention’s closing manager of digital media and strategic marketing with NBC Savage unexpectedly resigned from the station. In farewell e- Gospel Brunch and assisted the family with all of the funeral Universal in New York. mail to the newsroom, Savage quoted a rapper who said: arrangements. "Before I sell out, I get the hell out." Fran Jeffries has joined the Atlanta Journal -Constitution as Les Brownlee, the first African-American reporter for white- an education editor. Pamela Thomas-Graham stepped down as chairman of owned media in Chicago, died November 21 at the age of 90. CNBC for a senior job at Liz Claiborne Inc. Erin Aubry Kaplan has been hired as an op-ed columnist for Hugh Pearson, a former editorial writer at the Wall Street the Los Angeles Times. BET News hired ex-CNN correspondent Touré; former Journal and author of a book on his Black Panther name- Editor-in-Chief of The Source magazine Selwyn Hinds; and sake, Huey P. Newton, was found dead Aug. 19 in his Allison Keyes joined National Public Radio's National Desk writer and filmmaker Nelson George. Brooklyn apartment. He was 47. as a general assignment reporter. Ken Watts, morning and noon anchor at Atlanta's WXIA- Emma E. Pullen, a former journalist and filmmaker who Former anchor Emery King of WDIV-TV Detroit has been TV, left the Gannett-owned NBC affiliate after seven years spent more than two decades in Los Angeles documenting named communications director of the Detroit Medical on the job, and will be replaced by another journalist of the history and culture of African Americans, died July 20 in Center. color, Clarence Reynolds, who worked in Indianapolis and Raleigh, N.C. She was 52. most recently appeared on public television's "Antiques Veteran journalist Howard Manly has been named executive Road Show." George H. Scurlock, 85, a commercial photographer who editor of the Bay State Banner in Boston. Manly had been a documented 20th century black Washington in the storied columnist at the Boston Herald. Lena Williams, a reporter for the last 30 years at the New U Street studio founded by his father, died Aug. 10 of lung York Times and a Newspaper Guild representative at the cancer. Ron Nixon was named projects editor for computer assisted paper for nearly a decade, retired from the paper. reporting at The New York Times. LeRoy Whitfield, a writer who focused on the battle against AIDS among black Americans, died after living 15 years with Glenn Proctor has been named executive editor of the the HIV virus — while refusing to take medication. He was Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia. Great Achievements 36. Bob Reid, former executive vice president of the Discovery Hannah Allam, Knight Ridder's Cairo bureau chief, was Clint C. Wilson Sr., the editorial cartoonist for the Los Health Network, has been named executive vice president awarded the top prize, the John S. Knight Gold Medal, in Angeles Sentinel for more than 45 years, has died. He was and general manager of the Africa Channel. the company's James K. Batten Excellence Awards competi- 90. tion. Megan Scott joined the Associated Press' new service aimed The above information has been provided by Richard at young readers. Ed Bradley replaced Mike Wallace as the first face viewers Prince’s Journal-Isms. see when CBS' "60 Minutes" begins. E.R. Shipp, a columnist for the New York Daily News, has been named Lawrence Stessin Distinguished Professor in M.L. Elrick and Jim Schaefer of the Detroit Free Press won a Journalism at Hofstra University Clark Mollenhoff award for a series that exposed scandals in

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG 29 John H. Johnson 1918 - 2005

John H. Johnson rose from poverty to create an Outstanding Black Publisher in History.” In 2003, Baylor Media titan unparalleled international media and cosmetics empire University named him the “The Greatest Minority that fueled the dreams of many Americans. The founder Entrepreneur in U.S. History.” In that same year, Howard and publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines and the chair- University named its communications school the John H. man of Johnson Publishing Company and Fashion Fair Johnson School of Communications. invented a Cosmetics died at age 87 during the 60th anniversary year In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of of Ebony magazine, which, under his tireless and visionary Ebony magazine, the publisher received the Presidential leadership, has been the biggest black-owned magazine Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, from since 1945. President Bill Clinton, who said Johnson gave “African- genre of Johnson, who borrowed $500 on his mother’s furniture Americans a voice and a face, in his words, 'a new sense of to fund his first publication, became the first African- somebody-ness,’of who they were and what they could do, American on Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans. He at a time when they were virtually invisible in mainstream publishing was the most honored of all publishers, and his story is one American culture.” of the greatest “American dream”success stories of all time. Because of his business acumen and commitment to the His first magazine Negro Digest, published in 1942, was community, Johnson is credited as one of the trailblazers a success and led to the post-World War II founding of in business and international media and is acknowledged BY LYNN NORMENT, Ebony magazine in 1945. The first issue of Ebony sold as the first entrepreneur to recognize the colossal buying MANAGING EDITOR power of black America. EBONY MAGAZINE 25,000 copies, instantly making it the largest-circulated black magazine. Today, 60 years later, Ebony is still at the The secret of his success, by most accounts, was his top, with a circulation of 1.6 million. indomitable spirit and his refusal to take no for an answer. In 1951, Johnson started Jet, which became the No. 1 Defying the odds was his passion — the great theme of his black newsweekly. The company continued to expand its life.“Failure,”he said,“is a word I don’t accept.”In his best- media interests, and Johnson eventually published books, selling autobiography, Succeeding Against the Odds,he bought radio stations and produced television shows. said that the message of his life to “blacks, to Hispanics, to Another triumph for the company was the Ebony Fashion Asians,to whites,to dreamers everywhere ,[was] that long Fair, the world's largest traveling fashion show, which is shots do come in and that hard work, dedication and per- produced and directed by Johnson’s wife, Eunice Walker severance will overcome almost any prejudice and open Johnson, the secretary-treasurer of Johnson Publishing almost any door.” Co. Since 1958, the fashion show has raised more than $51 Johnson’s legacy will continue to leave a mark in the million for the UNCF and other scholarship groups. black community. “I would tell [young people] to start In 1973, the media entrepreneur studied by business where they are with what they have and that the secret of students across the country, diversified even further with a big success is starting with a small success and dreaming the creation of Fashion Fair Cosmetics. Fashion Fair bigger and bigger dreams,” he said in his last major inter- Cosmetics, which includes a fragrance line for both men view.“I would tell them also that a young black woman or and women, is sold in more than 2,500 stores in the United a young black man can’t dream too much today or dare too States, Africa, Europe, Canada and the Caribbean. much if he or she works hard, perseveres and dedicates In 1972, Johnson was named Publisher of the Year by themselves to excellence.” He was the most honored of all the Magazine Publishers Association. In 1974, the National publishers and his career is one of the greatest “American Newspaper Publishers Association named him the "Most dream” success stories.

30 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BLACK JOURNALISTS • WWW.NABJ.ORG Monica A. Morgan Photography

International Photojournalist Internationally, Monica’s work has appeared all over the globe from The Associated Press Worldwide to Newsweek-Japan. Domestically, her work has appeared in, among others: The New York Daily News, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, Fortune, Ebony, Jet, Hour Detroit, The Michigan Chronicle. Commercially, she has shot for: DaimlerChrysler, General Motors, Anheuser-Busch, the Coca-Cola Company, the National Newspaper Publishers Association of America, Comcast and HBO. Her Subjects have included: President George W. Bush, former President William Jefferson Clinton, Aretha Franklin, Muhammad Ali, Louis Farrakhan, Halle Berry, Denzel Washington and Sidney Poitier. Her Assignments have included: South Africa’s first all-race elections; the inauguration and retirement of Nelson Mandela, the 30th revolution celebration of Libya, and several Organization of African Unity summits. Her Travels have taken her to: Africa, Corsica, England, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Malta, Sicily and Spain. Civil Rights icon Rosa Parks called her work “Great” and selected Monica to be her official photographer. I n t e r n a t i o n a l . D o m e s t i c . C o m m e r c i a l l y . P e r s o n a l . G r e a t . 500 River Place, Unit 5109 • Detroit, MI 48207 • 313.259.7005 Studio 313.259.4454 Facsimile • [email protected]