Leah Schroeder

Five Black journalists who have impacted our society through their work.

The impact of Black journalists is felt year-round, not solely during Black History Month. Black writers have made immeasurable progress since the days of laws that prohibited Blacks from reading and writing. The unique perspectives that Black journalists offer have resulted in effective changes and developments in our society. There is no question that Black journalists are crucial in the world of journalism, and Associated Press (AP) worked to make this fact known in June 2020. Amid racial protests, AP instilled a new rule which declared that AP style was to capitalize the “b” in Black when referring to a person to convey “an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa,” John Daniszewski said, AP’s vice president of standards. Read on to learn the stories of five influential Black journalists.

Ida B. Wells

Ida B. Wells is considered by many to be one of the most famous Black women. Wells was a prominent investigative journalist, researcher and civil rights leader. Born into slavery in the state in Mississippi, Wells was ultimately freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Despite being considered legally free, Wells faced sexism and racism for the entirety of her life. Wells began as a teacher, but found her true passion in writing, and was ultimately fired from her teaching job due to the controversial nature of her writing at the time. 

Focusing mainly on racial inequality issues with her writing, Wells found the most headway with her work regarding lynching, documented in her pamphlet by the name of “Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in all its Phases.” Wells helped expose that lynching was constantly perpetrated by whites to usurp the power of Blacks and prevent their success and progress. Wells wrote for several different publications, but is most well-known for her writing for the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight newspaper, which she co-owned, and her writing under the pen name “lola” for The Living Way newspaper, which covered the racist Jim Crow laws. 

An air of controversy certainly surrounded Wells and her work, and one of her offices was ultimately destroyed by a white mob. Despite the threatening nature of her work, Wells never relented, and even went on to contribute to the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). After Wells’ death, she was awarded a Pulitzer Prize special citation to celebrate her reporting.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates is a successful author and journalist who is most well known for his writing regarding social and political issues. His work spans many genres, but often he focuses on African Americans and issues of white supremacy. 

Born in Maryland, Coates’ passion for writing bloomed early, with his father operating a Black printing press initially from the family’s basement. Coates went on to write for numerous world-renowned newspapers, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, TIME Magazine and The Atlantic. Ultimately, Coates achieved a regular column at The Atlantic, due to his initial success. Coates also keeps up a blog in which his writing on various current issues is featured, which has been named on the list of Best Blogs by Time magazine and won a Hillman Prize for Opinion & Analysis Journalism.

Several pieces that Coates authored have made an immeasurable impact in our society, most notably his The Atlantic cover piece by the name of “Fear of a Black President” and his feature story called “The Case for Reparations,” the latter of which he worked on for nearly two years. Coates has also authored several noteworthy novels and is currently writing scripts for various Marvel and DC films, such as “Black Panther,” as well as a television special about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. Coates’ impact has been felt throughout our society, and this fact is underscored by his award of a “Genius Grant” from the MacArthur Foundation.

Karen Attiah

Karen Attiah is a Ghanian-American journalist and author and the current Global Opinions editor for the Washington Post. Attiah was born to Ghanian parents in Texas and received her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. She then graduated from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs with a Master’s Degree in International Affairs. Before she joined the Washington Post in 2014, Attiah wrote freelance articles for the Associated Press from Curacao.

Attiah rose to prominence in 2018 when she called attention to the disappearance and subsequent murder of her colleague, Jamal Khashoggi, who went missing after his arrival at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Istanbul. Attiah’s work called attention to the danger journalists face both domestically and abroad. For her work, Attiah received the George Polk Award and was named the 2019 Black Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists. Attiah’s commentary regularly covers race, gender and international politics.

Unafraid to speak up, in 2019 Attiah also criticized Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s treatment of other House representatives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, which she claimed paved the way for further racist comments made by President Donald Trump. Attiah is currently working on a book about Khashoggi’s murder titled “Say Your Word, Then Leave,” which is set to be released in 2022.

Errin Haines

Errin Haines is a prominent American journalist whose work has spanned decades. Born in Atlanta and based out of Philadelphia, Haines attended Oglethorpe University in Georgia. Following her time in college, Haines became a reporter for the Atlanta Daily World and then the Los Angeles Times. She has since worked for many publications, with two long stints at the Associated Press. In 2019, Haines was a visiting fellow at Princeton University and was then a visiting fellow at Georgetown University the following year.

Haines served on the board of the National Association of Black Journalists after receiving their award for Emerging Journalist of the Year in 2006. She also won an Award of Excellence from the Atlanta Press Club in 2009. Haines’ work has covered topics such as race, politics, culture and civil rights. 

Most recently, Haines became a contributor at MSNBC and was also named a Founding Mother of The 19th. Haines cited structural issues within the realm of political journalism as a factor in the creation of her new foundation, a nonprofit newsroom which aims to “empower women, people of color and the LGBTQ community with the information, community and tools they need to be equal participants in our democracy.”

Eugene Robinson

Eugene Robinson boasts many accolades, including having received the Pulitzer Prize in 2009. Currently, Robinson serves as a newspaper columnist and an associate editor of The Washington Post. Born in South Carolina, Robinson attended the University of Michigan for college. He became the first African American co-editor-in-chief of Michigan’s newspaper. Robinson was also a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Though Robinson is a 30-year veteran of the Post, he has an impressive history behind him. Robinson was previously based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and subsequently in London. After his experience abroad, he returned to the states to become the Post’s foreign editor. Robinson ultimately launched a column in the op-ed section and it was syndicated to over 130 newspapers in a year, which made it the fastest-growing column in the history of the Washington Post Writers Group.

Robinson’s commentary about the 2008 presidential campaign and subsequent election ultimately contributed to his rise to fame, as well as his 2009 award of The Pulitzer Prize. Robinson’s writing has also contributed to the national conversation about the war in Iraq, the extent of presidential power and the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast devastated by hurricanes. 

Robinson is also a part of several notable groups, including the Pulitzer Prize Board, the National Association of Black Journalists and the International Women’s Media Foundation. Robinson is also known for authoring three successful novels. Last year, in 2021, Robinson was honored by the Larry Foster Award for Integrity in Public Communication.