Dorothy Butler Gilliam, "Trailblazer" (w/ Kojo Nnamdi)

Dorothy Butler Gilliam discusses her book, "Trailblazer", at Politics and Prose on 3/7/19.

Gilliam started writing for The Washington Post in 1961, becoming the paper’s first black woman reporter. In her phenomenal sixty-year career, which included serving as editor of the “Style” section and writing her own column, Gilliam not only documented tremendous social and political changes, she became an important figure in the struggle for civil rights. In her powerful memoir, which doubles as a history of the social and political change of recent decades, she reflects on her upbringing in the Jim Crow South, her growing awakening to her own potential, the challenges of socially segregated Washington, her marriage to the painter Sam Gilliam, and her ongoing struggle to bring people of color into mainstream journalism.

Gilliam is in conversation with Kojo Nnamdi, host of WAMU’s The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The Politics Hour.

DOROTHY BUTLER GILLIAM has been a journalist for more than six decades. In 1961, she became the first black woman reporter for the Washington Post. She would later become an editor and a columnist for the paper before retiring in 2003. Throughout her career, she has worked tirelessly to nurture other journalists of color and to diversify newsrooms across the United States. Her work as a civil rights journalist has been featured in three documentaries: "Freedom's Call," "Southern Journalists Who Covered the Civil Rights Movement," and "Hope & Fury: MLK, The Movement and The Media." During her career, Ms. Gilliam appeared regularly on television, including PBS, and hosted her own show on BET. She formerly served as president of the National Association of Black Journalists and of the Unity Journalists of Color.

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Produced by Tom Warren