x, 466 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Type:
Biography
History
Place:
Illinois
Chicago
Date:
2015
20th century
Contents:
Prologue : A presidential pen -- Throop Street -- Red summer -- Driftwood -- An abundance of nerve -- Musketeer -- Time to leave -- Japan -- Chocolate Joe -- Cub reporter -- More unwanted babies -- A taste of national politics -- Washington -- Feared Negro -- Turning like a spinning top -- Asking questions no one else would -- Irks Ike -- Bandung -- The Defender's Nellie Bly -- South at the crossroads -- The gladiator wears a reverse collar -- Ghana -- A toothless act -- The vice-president comes calling -- The door remains closed -- We shall overcome -- Soul brothers in Vietnam -- Playing into their hands -- The poor people's campaign -- Resurrection city -- Nixon redux -- Africa bound -- China -- You can't go home again -- Finding a new role -- On her own African mission -- Professor Payne -- Hymietown -- Agitate, agitate, agitate -- Forgotten -- Citizen of the world
Summary:
Acclaimed biographer James McGrath Morris brings into focus the riveting life of pioneering journalist Ethel Payne, known as The First Lady of the Black Press. For decades, Ethel Lois Payne has been hidden in the shadows of history. Now, Morris skillfully illuminates the life of this ambitious, influential, and groundbreaking woman, from her childhood growing up in South Chicago to her career as a journalist and network news commentator, reporting on some of the most crucial events in modern American history.
Payne broke new ground as the Washington correspondent for the Chicago Defender; publicly prodded President Dwight D. Eisenhower to support desegregation; and reported on legislative and judicial civil rights battles, enlightening and activating black readers across the nation. In 1972, she became the first female African American radio and television commentator on a national network, working for CBS. Her story mirrors the evolution of our own modern society. Morris brings into focus the riveting life of one of the most significant yet least known figures of the civil rights era.
