Wayne Dawkins gives an insider's account of the battling egos, valiant efforts and controversies that went into creating the National Association of Black Journalists, the largest and most powerful organization of journalists of color in America. The critically acclaimed book also recounts the struggles that have sustained and strengthened the group as it has grown and prospered.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
Wayne Dawkins' book on the National Association of Black Journalists answers one critical question for those who have observed the group over the years: If the organization is supposed to have begun so small that the first meeting could have been held in a phone booth, how can so many people claim to be founders? The answer is that on 12 December 1975, 44 journalists in Washington, D.C. founded what has become the largest organization of journalists of color in this nation. ... Dawkins traces NABJ through the 1983 convention, the first year in which the board did not have a founder. By then the group had grown to more than 400. [For the 1994 Unity convention, NABJ registered more than 3,000 participants]... Dawkins is faithful to his purpose: to capture the stories of NABJ's past and to preserve those events for younger journalists and others. --American Journalism, Winter 1995
This book is a welcome addition to the literature on blacks and the media, but there is still more to do on the topic. ... Within the context of the period covered, Dawkins does a very good job of showing how it was not always smooth sailing for NABJ, particularly the early years. Dawkins tells readers of the personality conflicts, factional [e.g. print vs. broadcast, urban vs. smaller markets] disputes, and failed and successful grabs for power during this period of the organization's adolescence. ... In summary, "Black Journalists" is a needed addition to the literature of media history, but readers should be reminded it is "a" story of the National Association of Black Journalists and not the whole one. --AJ Book Reviews, Fall 1996
An informative, sometimes indelicately gossipy backstage story ... Most valuable are inspirational interviews with numerous leading black journalists [including Les Payne, Chuck Stone, and Jeannye Thornton], whose stories testify to both their determination and the obstacles minority journalists confront. --American Journalism Review, Nov. 1993
This book is a welcome addition to the literature on blacks and the media, but there is still more to do on the topic. ... Within the context of the period covered, Dawkins does a very good job of showing how it was not always smooth sailing for NABJ, particularly the early years. Dawkins tells readers of the personality conflicts, factional [e.g. print vs. broadcast, urban vs. smaller markets] disputes, and failed and successful grabs for power during this period of the organization's adolescence. ... In summary, "Black Journalists" is a needed addition to the literature of media history, but readers should be reminded it is "a" story of the National Association of Black Journalists and not the whole one. --AJ Book Reviews, Fall 1996
An informative, sometimes indelicately gossipy backstage story ... Most valuable are inspirational interviews with numerous leading black journalists [including Les Payne, Chuck Stone, and Jeannye Thornton], whose stories testify to both their determination and the obstacles minority journalists confront. --American Journalism Review, Nov. 1993
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The NABJ Story,
This review is from: Black Journalists: The NABJ Story (Paperback)
I just finished reading, "The NABJ Story", by Wayne Dawkins. I was stunned by all the background information that helped me understand how and why the organization started, how it has progressed to the organization it is today and the challenges faced along the way.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly a historical and underrated tome - Part 2,
By
This review is from: Black Journalists: The NABJ Story (Paperback)
Needed to add a Part 2 after I read the other reviews. The other reviews appear to be from members of NABJ and rightfully so remark how the book gives a wonderful history of the organization. I'm not a member of NABJ, so to the readers who are not, do not think this book is just about the organization. It's about history. As Taylor Branch did with civil rights and 'Parting the Waters', you cannot write a complete history of a group, or event, or organization, without telling the story of the people. Dawkins does that and more. Again a must read for anyone who wants to understand.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly a historical and underrated tome,
By
This review is from: Black Journalists: The NABJ Story (Paperback)
In a week of Ronald Reagan's death coverage, the public has witnessed decades of history. And in this coverage the unilaterally significant importance of those who bring us news and information has become even more apparent and poignant. Consider how much we would know if there were no newspapers or magazines, television, or computer? No word, but word of mouth. How much would we actually know?The burden and responsibility of being a bear of 'word' is awesome, not to be taken lightly or too seriously. Just taken. It cannot be black or white, there must be gray. It cannot be one dimensional, voices of all must be heard, considered, discarded, reviewed, discussed, concluded. In a book of 255 pages, Wayne Dawkins tells the shaping of America's history through heroes often unsung and maligned - this country's black disciples - the journalists. God is this book good. I sobbed over what Dawkins has taken the time to give us. Knowledge of who we are and how we were shaped and why. An easy read, however, like the blues and a smooth glass of wine, you find yourself wanting to savor the importance and humility and arrogance contained within these pages. Sorry if I gush. But in a world of reality tv, celebrity stalking, and other superficialities, as you read and reread this book (yes, I'm going to pick it up again) you begin to ponder the positive and negative role these writers and other journalists take positively and negatively shaping our world And more importantly the role we play or abdicate in this surreality. Truly a historical and underrated tome. Please please read and pass on. This should be required reading for everyone, EVERYONE!!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
By 1975, about a decade had passed since the American civil rights movement peaked. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
many black journalists, minority journalists, younger journalists, black reporters, daily journalism, white media, white journalists, white editors Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Mal Johnson, Chuck Stone, South Africa, Les Payne, Vernon Jarrett, United States, Kansas City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Jeanne Fox, Paul Brock, Acel Moore, Texas Southern, The Washington Post, San Francisco, Bob Reid, Ben Johnson, Max Robinson, Philadelphia Daily News, Denise Johnson, Gayle Pollard, Howard University, Joe Davidson, Philadelphia Bulletin New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
By 1975, about a decade had passed since the American civil rights movement peaked. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
many black journalists, minority journalists, younger journalists, black reporters, daily journalism, white media, white journalists, white editors Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Mal Johnson, Chuck Stone, South Africa, Les Payne, Vernon Jarrett, United States, Kansas City, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Jeanne Fox, Paul Brock, Acel Moore, Texas Southern, The Washington Post, San Francisco, Bob Reid, Ben Johnson, Max Robinson, Philadelphia Daily News, Denise Johnson, Gayle Pollard, Howard University, Joe Davidson, Philadelphia Bulletin New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 25
books:
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7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- Ben Jonson by G. Gregory Smith on page 107, and Back Matter
- Frederick Douglass by Booker T. Washington on page 105, and page 189
- American Journey by Jean Stein in Back Matter
- Nelson Mandela (DK Biography) by Lenny Hort in Back Matter
- The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest Hour by Winston S. Churchill in Back Matter
See all 25 books this book cites
- Rugged Waters: Black Journalists Swim the Mainstream by Wayne Dawkins on 6 pages
- Can't Get Here from There by Vince Sanders on page 138, and page 140
- Black Voices in Commentary: The Trotter Group by Wayne Dawkins in Front Matter
- Out of My Mind by Elmer Smith in Front Matter
- Rooted in the Chants of Slaves, Blacks in the Humanities, 1985-1997 by Donald Franklin Joyce on page 40
See all 7 books citing this book
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