Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 11-17-17

Feature
Local Black Journalists Honor Local Black Newspapers In Celebration Of 190th Anniversary Of The Black Press
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
When Jeraldine Will- iams entered the University of Florida in 1963 as one of its first Black students, she didn’t encounter any burning crosses, snarling dogs, or a governor blocking her entry into its buildings.
But she didn’t exactly get a warm welcome from her white peers.
“Being the only black, no- body knew me and they didn’t want to know me,” Williams said. “Today, they call it social isolation. For me, it was real. It was severe.”
Williams, now an attor- ney, shared stories about her college experience and jour- nalism career Thursday as the keynote speaker at the Griot Drum Awards.
The annual event ac- knowledges coverage of the Tampa Bay African American community by local journal- ists and grants scholarships to some of the area’s best and brightest journalism stu- dents.
Hosted by the Tampa Bay Association of Black Journal- ists, the annual gathering also honored local Black newspa- pers in commemoration of the 190th anniversary of the Black press.
Local Black newspapers – the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin, St. Pete Bulletin, The Weekly Challenger, and The Florida Courier,
ATTY. JERALDINE WILLIAMS
– have played vital roles in telling the stories of the African-American community and continues to do so, said Rod Carter, the organiza- tion’s president.
‘Legacy’ award recipient, Florida Sentinel president, C. Blythe ‘Drew’ An- drews, III concurred.
“The truth matters and our community needs us,” he said.
The Black press marches on despite upheavals in the industry and the challenge of reaping the full benefits of digital advertising, Andrews said.
“Some say the Black press is dead,” he said. “We say we are alive and well.”
Williams said working as a teen at the Sentinel under C. Blythe Andrews and his son, C. Blythe Andrews, Jr., was crucial in her deci- sion to study journalism.
From left to right: James Johnson and Tommie Wilson, Sentinel Account Executives; James Ransom, Community Activist, Dr. Glenn Cherry and Atty. Charles Cherry of the Florida Courier; and C. Blythe Andrews, III, President, Florida Sentinel Bulletin.
University of Florida, Williams worked many years as a journalist writing for a number of publications, including Ebony Magazine and the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times).
She was the owner and publisher of Tallahassee’s Capitol Outlook newspa- per in 1994 when South African activist Nelson Mandela was elected presi- dent of the country.
Compelled to witness and document the historical events to follow, Williams said she sold the newspaper and moved to the former apartheid republic to write for Ebony South Africa.
“I was helping to capture history,” she said. “I felt I had something to offer.”
Williams implored pro- fessional journalists to con- tinue the tradition of grooming young journalists as the Andrews family did for her.
“Give them an opportu- nity to go in and volunteer,” she said. “It is really impor- tant for them to get a leg in because nobody else is going to do it for them.”
Williams said she was paid $12 to write two articles a month.
“Mr. Andrews would edit my work and sit with me and go over subject-verb agreement,” she said. “I was able to take what I was learn- ing in school and the practical application of what I was learning on the job and get through those standardized exams."
The Andrews’ invest- ment into her development as a writer aided Williams in her quest to compete in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, a national student journalism contest.
For months, Williams and a fellow white woman student – the star writer at the university’s newspaper,
The Alligator – submitted stories that advanced them both in the competition. Fi- nally, one month Williams bested her colleague. She then wrote a three-part series about the effects of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that helped her place second in the 1967 championship.
“I told God that I want to do something grand,” she said. "He must have heard me.”
After graduating from the
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