By DeRon Miles and Ashley Clarke with SGJC Student News Network
Morgan State University School of Global Journalism and Communication Thursday hosted Bonnie Newman Davis for an event where she talked to 30 students and faculty about her life, background, and most importantly the creation and story of her book “Truth Tellers.”
“Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960,” was meant to be anecdotes about the lives and professions of 24 Black women journalists who have brought change since the civil rights movement through six decades. Women from different parts of the United States were interviewed and written about to spotlight the multitude of Black women in the journalism field, all chosen by Newman Davis, based off their creativity, care and concern for the Black community, their care about journalism, and their overall talent all being displayed in their own personal stories and chapters of the book.
Newman Davis began interviews of her subjects in 2015. She did not begin writing until 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic due to being at home with a publish-or-perish mindset, a deadline, a National Association of Black Journalists creators grant, and eight other black women journalists to help her write some of the chapters.
Creatively, what began as a wordy, academic piece became something concise and able to grab readers’ attention.
“In terms of writing the book, I had all these pages of notes, so I just sat there and typed,” she said. “Some of it I couldn’t understand, some of it I did. I knew I would just go back and clean it up at some point.
“And I had a writing coach too, Janet Davenport, a former NABJ board member who was an editorial writer for a Connecticut paper, the Hartford Courant. So, I hired her just to be my accountability coach.”
Newman Davis, author, professor, journalist, and the current Managing editor of the Richmond Free Press, a Black weekly, has an extensive career traveling to a multitude of areas where she spent time crafting and learning about her style and skills of journalism. For example, she met Tyra Banks while covering fashion shows and covered a James Brown concert.
Newman Davis also revealed her struggle in navigating white spaces at the Richmond Times Dispatch and other newsrooms, and the challenges other Black women have faced in the industry: “There were times when it was very stressful where I was not given the accolades, or the respect, or the recognition that I needed or felt like I’ve earned.”
She spoke about her journey and how the start of her love of journalism came from reading all the time as a child in Greensboro, North Carolina. Newman Davis began her focus on journalism at North Carolina A&T State University as an English major where she would earn her bachelor’s degree.
Going to NC A&T allowed her to gain and improve her skills as a journalist, being able to interview and gain insight and experience from other notable Black journalists and broadcasters such as Sam Adams, Max Robinson, and Jay T. Harris, and Pam McAllister Johnson.
Using her skills and knowledge she traveled around multiple cities writing and reporting stories on numerous topics including sports, entertainment, and politics traveling around in areas including Virginia, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, and California.
Bonnie Newman Davis, known as one of the most successful and impactful journalists, continues to use her story to inspire and influence young journalists today.
Both writers are students in the School of Global Journalism and Communication