Description
Ethel L. Payne (1911-1991) was an African American journalist and civil rights activist who was widely known as the “First Lady of the Black Press.” She was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a family of sharecroppers who had recently migrated from Mississippi. Payne attended Chicago public schools, where she excelled in her studies and became the first African American to be named valedictorian of her high school.
After high school, Payne attended Northwestern University and graduated with a degree in journalism in 1934. She began her career in journalism as a reporter for the Chicago Defender, the city’s leading African American newspaper. She quickly rose through the ranks of the paper, becoming the first female reporter in the paper’s history and later its first female columnist.
Payne’s career in journalism focused on social justice issues, particularly those affecting African Americans. She often traveled to locations around the world to report on the civil rights and political movements of the day. She covered the civil rights movement in the United States, the struggle for independence in Ghana, the Vietnam War, and she was present at the March on Washington in 1963.
Payne was a vocal advocate for civil rights, and she often spoke publicly about issues such as segregation, poverty, and racial injustice. She also wrote frequently on these issues, and her work was published in numerous newspapers and magazines. In addition to her journalistic work, Payne was also active in the civil rights movement, attending protests and rallies and working with organizations such as the NAACP.
Payne was a groundbreaking journalist and an influential voice in the civil rights movement. She was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists’ Hall of Fame in 1985 and the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame in 1992. Her legacy lives on in her reporting and activism, which continue to inspire generations of journalists and civil rights activists.
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