BLACK AND GOLDEN

Writers and scholars reflect on the history of a journalistic institution.

Founded in 1975, the National Association of Black Journalists presented a direct challenge to an American news media ecosystem that was “overwhelmingly a White, male juggernaut” concentrated in a handful of elite newspapers and television networks. In this celebration of NABJ’s 50-year anniversary, editor Dawkins, a professor of journalism at Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications in Virginia, gathers eminent scholars and journalists to reflect on the body’s history. The book’s first half features 10 essays from various authors providing diverse perspectives on the organization’s past. While the collection is generally celebratory, the opening essay, written by Dawkins, surveys both the highs and lows of the organization, from its massive growth in the 1980s through navigating the Jayson Blair plagiarism and fabrication scandal of the early 2000s. Other essays follow a similarly nuanced approach, such as Gayle Terry’s piece on the internal conflicts within the organization when it considered expanding its membership to public relations professionals, disc jockeys, and advertising agents. A particularly powerful essay by Cheryl Devall surveys the legacy of Black photojournalists, who had long fought for respect and parity among their peers in print journalism and became a major source of fundraising support within the NABJ through auctioning their work. The volume’s second half, described by Dawkins as “a book within a book,” is an “Almanac” of the NABJ’s history in the 21st century, walking readers through a timeline of NABJ activities from the Sept. 11 attacks and War on Terror through the Black Lives Matter movement and the presidential elections of Donald Trump. Visually stunning, the volume features high-resolution, full-color photographs throughout. True to the journalistic roots of its editor and contributors—who include Washington Post journalist Hamil Harris; former editor-in-chief for Essence.com, Ingrid Sturgis; and the former American Press Institute’s Director of Inclusion and Audience Engagement, Letrell Crittenden—the anthology features an impressive array of footnotes and scholarly references.

A nuanced, visually appealing celebration of a pillar of American journalism.