Why I Became a Journalist: A Personal Story

Hello Meltingpot Community.

Today is my birthday, so I decided I wanted to write a personal story here on the Meltingpot to mark the occasion. Since the theme of the month is Black journalists, I thought I’d share why I became a journalist. It’s a good story. Do you want to hear it? Of course you do.

Harriet the Spy Made Me Do It

I guess this story starts when I learned to read, around age four or five. Once I realized I could read the words in the books myself, and didn’t have to wait for my mom to read to me at bedtime, I could not be stopped. I was a voracious reader and had a penchant for reading stories about precocious kids and detectives. If the precocious kid was also a detective, even better. Hello, Encyclopedia Brown.

I blame/credit the book  Harriet the Spy for giving me the idea to walk around with a secret notebook and write down everything I deemed interesting, bizarre or potentially criminal. I thought being a spy sounded really cool, but really what I was doing was learning how to be a reporter. I never did anything with the notes in my notebook, but I loved the practice of observing people around me and writing down what I saw. I also fell in love with notebooks. (Marie Kondo would faint if she saw how many notebooks I still have from my past. But that’s not the point of this story. I’m sharing why I became a journalist, so please don’t judge my hoarder tendencies. Thank you.)

Frederick Douglass is my Patron Saint

I think I read the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass for the first time when I was in high school. And from that very first read, I felt like Douglass gave me a vision of how I could make a difference in the world by using my words. I don’t know if this is actually true, but the way I remember it, is that Frederick Douglass was the first person I had ever heard of who made a living and moved the world with his words. He was a word warrior. He was a writer, a journalist and a speaker who commanded attention, travelled the world and helped usher in the freedom of Black people with the power of his pen and the persuasiveness of his voice. He made me realize what was possible. Granted, I did not believe that I would enjoy the same level of success and notoriety as Douglass, but that wasn’t the point. His life story simply provided my North Star towards a career where my words could sustain me and possibly move mountains.

The Dawning of Aquarius

Okay, this part of my journalism story I like to blame on the fact that I’m an Aquarius. Aquarius tend to be quirky and eccentric. For me that means that I have a hard time staying focused on one thing. Growing up and all the way through college, I had a million ideas about what I wanted to do professionally. I knew I always wanted to write, but I also wanted to be a doctor, a lawyer, an actress, a circus performer and a teacher. By the time I was a senior in college, I finally realized – after a fabulous internship at Milwaukee Magazine – that if I followed in Frederick’s footsteps, and became a journalist, I could explore all of my interests and satisfy my insatiable curiosity. (Fun fact, Frederick Douglass is also an Aquarius.) What’s more, I could use the press to fight for social justice, equality and more fair and balanced representation of Black and Brown people in popular culture.

Writing My Way through the World

Yes, I wrote for my high school newspaper, my college newspaper and I even had a monthly column in a local community newspaper in Milwaukee. But I didn’t get serious about a career in journalism until after that Milwaukee Magazine internship. After that, I was hooked. I knew my future was in magazine journalism but it took me a minute to get there. I spent two years working in public relations in New York City after college because I was desperate for a paycheck. But then I applied and was accepted to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Once I walked through those doors, I never looked back and have been writing my way through the world ever since. Using my words as my weapons. And I still always carry a notebook so Harriet would be proud.

A Living Legacy of Black Journalists

I love that I get to call myself a journalist. I love that my work has evolved from magazine writer, to editor, to author to blogger to podcast host. I am thrilled that my work has graced the pages of national magazines and influential newspapers.  I am so happy to be in this field where so many have come before me and paved the way for women and Black people particularly, to be able to use our voices to share the stories we deem important. By focusing on Black journalists this month, I am reminded that I am standing on the shoulders of men and women who literally risked their lives and livelihoods to put pen to paper and then send their stories out into world. That’s a powerful reflection. It’s a salient reminder. I am grateful to stand in their legacy.

Happy birthday to me. A Black journalist in 2020.

Peace!