History Lesson |
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Boston Association of Black Journalists |
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BABJ: How it All Began |
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"We wanted to know who else was out there, where they were and what they were doing." With that in mind, broadcast journalist Sarah-Ann Shaw recalls, a group of Boston's black journalists formed an informal media association in 1971, preceding the National Association of Black Journalists by five years. Eventually becoming one of the first chapters of NABJ, the Boston Association of Black Journalists' focus has remained essentially as it was in the days when African Americans in Boston's media outlets numbered just a few.BABJ offers the area's African American journalists a place of fellowship, professional development opportunities, and support. |
Over the years we have sponsored dialogs on the portrayal of blacks in the local media, held an annual community media access workshop and participated in high school journalism education programs. We also award scholarships to deserving journalism students. Our members work for print, broadcast, PR, and online media throughout the area. From time to time we pause to honor some of our own who have untiringly made significant contributions to the industry and our community.
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About NABJ |
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In 1975, five black journalists met in Washington, D.C. to discuss the feasibility of forming a national association. In December of that year, more than 60 black journalists from 19 cities and 17 states, covering an event, were issued a call to arms to form what is now the National Association of Black Journalists. Today, the organization has grown to more than 2,000 members from across the country and from nearly every major news operation. As the largest organization of journalists of color, NABJ is increasingly gaining prominence on the national scene, attracting to its conventions figures such as General |
Colin Powell, Spike Lee, former Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley and then-president Bill Clinton. NABJ's goals remain unchanged from those of the small group that met in Washington in 1975: to strengthen the ties between blacks in the media, award scholarships, expand job opportunities for black journalists and improve the industry's portrayal of African Americans. Our work is far from done.
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