My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives

Description

“Charlayne Hunter-Gault is an eminent Dean of American journalism, a vital voice whose work chronicled the civil rights movement and so much of what has transpired since then. My People is the definitive collection of her reportage and commentary. Spanning datelines in the American South, South Africa and points scattered in between, her work constitutes a history of our time as rendered by the pen of a singular and indispensable black woman journalist.”-Jelani Cobb From the legendary Emmy Award-winning journalist, a collection of ground-breaking reportage from across five decades which vividly chronicles the experience of Black life in America today. At just eighteen years old,Charlayne Hunter-Gault made national news when she mounted a successful legal challenge that culminated in her admission to the University of Georgia in January 1961—making her one of the first two Black students to integrate the institution. As an adult, Charlayne switched from being the subject of news to covering it, becoming one of its most recognized and acclaimed interpreters. Over more than five decades, this dedicated reporter charted a course through some of the world’s most respected journalistic institutions, including The New Yorker and the New York Times, where she was often the only Black woman in the newsroom. Throughout her storied career, Charlayne has chronicled the lives of Black people in America—shining a light on their experiences and giving a glimpse into their community as never before. Though she has covered numerous topics and events, observed as a whole, her work reveals the evolving issues at the forefront of Black Americans lives and how many of the same issues continue to persist today. My People showcases Charlayne’s lifelong commitment to reporting on Black people in their totality, “in ways that are recognizable to themselves.” Spanning from the Civil Rights Movement through the election and inauguration of America’s first Black president and beyond, this invaluable collection shows the breadth and nuance of the Black experience through trials, tragedies, and triumphs of everyday lives. Cover Title Page Dedication Foreword by Nikole Hannah-Jones Part I: Toward Justice and Equality, Then and Now Dispute Center Opens in Harlem After-School School for Black Youngsters in Search of Heritage Black Activist Sees New South: Lewis Seeks Funds to Help Enroll More Voters Blacks Are Developing Programs to Fight Crime in Communities Economist Finds Widening in Black-White Income Gap Fighting Racism in Schools More Negroes Vacation as Barriers Fall Panthers Indoctrinate the Young Police Seek “Bridges” to Harlem Talking to Young People About Trump Teaching the Civil Rights Movement Today’s Horrors Are Yesterday’s Repeats Urban League Director Accuses the Press of Ignoring Blacks On the Case in Resurrection City Part II: My Sisters 2 Black Women Combine Lives and Talent in Play 200 Black Women “Have Dialogue” Black Women Getting Job Help Black Women MDs Civil Rights Pioneer Ruby Bridges on Activism in the Modern Era Many Blacks Wary of “Women’s Liberation” Movement in U.S. New NAACP Head: Margaret Bush Wilson Poets Extol a Sister’s Unfettered Soul Shirley Chisholm: Willing to Speak Out The Woman Who Will Judge Oscar Pistorius Unlimited Visibility Part III: Community and Culture 7,000 Books on Blacks Fill a Home An Entrepreneur’s Trucks Bring Southern Soul Food to Harlem Church in Harlem Plays Vital Role in Community How Black-ish Unpacks Hard Topics with Humor and Nuance New Museum Traces Black Stage History Street Academy Program Sends School “Walk-Outs” to Colleges The Corner The Professor Woody Strode? He Wasn’t the Star but He Stole the Movie Roots Getting a Grip on People Everywhere Harlem a Symphony for Orchestra Part IV: A Single Garment of Destiny A Rainy Day in Soweto America and South Africa, Watching Each Other Ethiopia: Journalists Live in Fear of “Terror” Law New Party Urged for World Blacks School a Beacon of Hope in Nigeria The Dangerous Case of Eskinder Nega The Third Man Revolution in Tunisia and in the African Media Violated Hopes Part V: The Road Less Traveled A Walk Through a Georgia Corridor A Hundred-Fifteenth-Between-Lenox-and-Fifth A Trip to Leverton After Nine Years: A Homecoming for the First Black Girl at the University of Georgia How the AME Church Helped Build My Armor of Values Lifting My Voice Oak Bluffs, More than a Region in My Mind Taunts, Tear Gas, and Other College Memories I Desegregated the University of Georgia. History Is Still in the Making. Part VI: Honoring the Ancestors A Love Affair That Lasted for Fifty-Six Years Black Muslim Temple Renamed for Malcolm X Columbia’s Overdue Apology to Langston Hughes Remembering John Lewis and the Significance of Freedom Rides Mandela’s Birthday and Trayvon Martin’s Loss Postscript: Julian Bond The Death of a Friend Inspires Reflections on Mortality When I Met Dr. King Nelson Mandela, the Father Epilogue: Reasons for Hope amid America’s Racial Unrest Acknowledgments About the Author Also by Charlayne Hunter-Gault Copyright About the Publisher