Ebony’s era bell thompson travels the world to tell the story

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Abstract

This article identifies and examines the works of Era Bell Thompson, a foreign correspondent at a time when women andAfrican Americans were not traditionally found in those positions. A textual analysis ofapproximately thirty articles Thompson wrotefor Ebony magazine between 1953 and 1974 found she educated readers about the history, geography and culture ofthe places she covered; and she juxtaposed race relations and developments abroad that affectedpeople ofcolor worldwide with what was happening in the United States. Liberation movements in African and Caribbean nations, as well as personal andprofessional achievements ofblack people abroad, also figured prominently in Thompson sforeign correspondence. She stressed reconciliation and integration and offered that conflicts in developing nations and racism everywhere could be overcome through collective efforts that would lead to advancement ofall people ofcolor. Thompson swork is significant because her foreign correspondence frameci blacks worldwide positively when the black press believed mainstream press interna- tional reporting either ignored or framed them negatively. By illuminating Thompson’s work andperspective, this article elevates an obscure, pioneering female African American in journal- ism history and contributes to the discourse on the elite area of foreign correspondence.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

American Journalism

First Page

7

Last Page

30

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