Happy Black Excellence Month!: Let’s Talk about Black Journalists

Hello Meltingpot Community.

It’s February! Which means it’s the Blackest month of the year in the United States. Not only were all of the coolest Black people – Frederick Douglass, Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Rosa Parks, Me – born in the month of February, but it’s also Black History Month.

Black History is American History

Like many Black people, I’m kind of conflicted about the whole idea of having a Black history month. I wrote a very comprehensive blog post explaining why a few years ago. Please, if you have a minute, check it out, because I still feel the exact same way. Suffice it to say, I am all for spending an entire month celebrating the absolute awesomeness of Black Americans, I just want it to be clear that Black history is American history and recognizing our contributions to American history and culture should not to be confined to the shortest month of the year.

Black Excellence = Black Journalists

So, instead of celebrating Black History Month, I say we should be celebrating Black Excellence Month. That’s what I’m going to be doing here on the Meltingpot, anyway. More specifically, I am going to be combining two of my loves – journalism and Blackness – and use this month of February to highlight some of the greatest Black journalists, past and present. Besides the fact that I have been a professional journalist for twenty years, and that I’ve been teaching journalism for the past ten years, I have the utmost respect and awe for journalists and journalism, particularly the journalists who have weaponized their words to bring about change in the world. Fact, Black journalists have been doing this work since forever.

Black journalists have been telling the world that Black Lives Matter since before Black lives were even counted as fully human. Black journalists have been social disruptors well before a sit-in was ever staged. Black journalists were at the forefront of using the media to build wealth and to show that niche audiences could be monetized. Black journalists were a beacon of light and hope when darkness prevailed. In my mind, America’s Black journalists are heroes that deserve to be recognized this month and any other time that Black excellence is on the table.

A Daily Dose of Black Excellence on the Meltingpot

Here’s how this will work. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday in February, I will be sharing the story of an inspiring Black journalist. I will go in (mostly) chronological order starting with early Black journalists in antebellum America and move my way up to current times. Sadly, there are so many more inspiring Black journalists than there are Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in February, but I’ll do my best to share a comprehensive selection. Many of the names you might know, but I’m sure some of the journalists I highlight will be new to you. That’s my goal at least, to demonstrate just how impactful Black journalists have been – even at extreme personal sacrifice – in creating the society we know to today. (Kind of reminds you of The 1619 Project, right?)

In the meantime, if you have a suggestion for a Black journalist that you think I must include in my coverage, leave me a comment below.

Happy Black Excellence Month!

Peace!

(Photo by Danzor Friday Danzor from Pexels)