November | 2022 | BND Institute of Media & Culture

Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women
Journalists Since 1960

The first Black woman to run for vice president of the United States was Charlotta Bass—a journalist. That happened 70 years ago.

For nearly four decades before her 1952 run for the vice presidency, Bass was the crusading editor and publisher of the California Eagle, the largest Black-owned newspaper on the West Coast. But those who write the history of that time have largely forgotten—or simply ignored—Bass.

Bonnie Newman Davis’ book, Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960, tells the stories of 24 Black women whose journalism careers spanned the last forty years of the 20th century. They are print and broadcast journalists and, like Bass, courageously bore the burden of being a Black woman in America’s newsrooms.

“These women aren’t household names. This book, hopefully, will change that.”

– DeWayne Wickham, Journalist, Columnist and Founding Dean, School of
Global Journalism & Communication at Morgan State University

“While we have become accustomed to seeing Black women journalists on screen, there are so many who are lesser known and unsung, but who have paved important paths in the field. Bonnie Newman Davis lifts their names and tells their important stories. This is an important book for students and scholars who want (need) to know the full history of journalism.”

—Tamara Jeffries, Journalist, Former Executive Editor, Essence Magazine