The FOLIO Celebrates Black Journalism!

Anaiah Fowlkes ‘28

Throughout history, African American journalists have shed light on their experiences, addressed social injustices, and used their voice to communities often overlooked. These reporters worked for justice and equality. They questioned the norms of society while celebrating culture and advocating for change. Black journalists not only reported history, but also helped create it. The legacy, activism, and contributions of people such as Ida B. Wells, Ethel Payne, and Alice Allison Dunnigan deserve continued recognition.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born on July 16, 1862, in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Encouraged by her parents’ belief in the importance of education, Wells-Barnett was remarkably intelligent from a young age. Her journalism career began in Memphis, Tennessee, where she became the editor of a local newspaper called The Evening Star. She wrote about the daily injustices that African Americans faced. When her close friend Thomas Moss was lynched in 1892, she began focusing on anti-lynching activism and investigating cases across the eastern seaboard. In 1893, she was hired by The Chicago Inter-Ocean to investigate lynchings in the American south. She then published her findings in their newspaper. Throughout her life, Ida B. Wells-Barnett continued to advocate for African American rights and anti-lynching efforts up until her death in 1931.

Ethel L. Payne, also known as the ‘First Lady of the Black Press,’ was born on August 14, 1911. During her childhood, Payne loved to read. In 1950, she began writing about the unfair treatment of African American soldiers during the Korean War. After the Korean War, reporter Alex Wilson noticed Payne’s notes. He asked her to send them to The Chicago Defender, a newspaper for African American audiences. She began writing for the newspaper company in 1951. During her time as a reporter for Defender, she focused on stories that were frequently left undiscussed, and was praised for her clear and straightforward style of reporting. In addition to being the first African American woman to join the White House Press Corps and to appear on a national network as a radio & television commentator, Payne brought awareness to the Civil Rights Movement. She reported on Rosa Parks, interviewed Martin Luther King Jr., and traveled to the South. She continued to break barriers, write, and advocate up until her death by heart attack in 1991.

Born on April 27, 1906, Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first African American female correspondent at the White House and the first Black female member of the Senate and House of Representatives press galleries. While enrolled in journalism classes at Tennessee A&I University, she started working as a teacher in Russellville's Todd County School System. At the start of World War II, Dunnigan balanced night classes in economics and statistics at Howard University with a freelance writing job for the American Negro Press (ANP) in Chicago, Illinois. She started working as a writer for the Chicago Defender in 1946. Dunnigan was one of two women and three African Americans in the press corps that covered President Harry S. Truman's 1948 campaign. Throughout her years as a White House reporter, she regularly inquired about the state of Black America and the growing civil rights movement. After retirement, Dunnigan wrote her autobiography, “A Black Woman’s Experience: From Schoolhouse to White House.” She died on May 6, 1983, at 77 years old.

Black journalism has captured and influenced history throughout the years, continuously filling the voids created by mainstream channels and ensuring that stories are reported with authenticity, depth, and live understanding. From exposing injustices to celebrating African American culture and community, the legacy of black journalism poses as a reminder of past struggles while looking forward to a diverse future.