The Washington Post put it best, “Had Ethel Payne not been Black, she certainly would have been one of the most recognized journalists in American society.”
She forged her own path and broke countless barriers. Her story should be shared at all times, but in honor of Black History Month and Women’s History Month approaching, it is even more timely right now.
Ethel Payne was born on Aug. 14, 1911, in Chicago. Racial tensions were at a high and progress was slow to be made. The end of slavery was still so recent that Payne’s grandparents were enslaved until the end of the civil war in 1865.
Payne wrote for her school newspaper, and she was in good company as years before, Ernest Hemingway had the same teacher as her. However, her journalism career did not immediately take off from there.
She traveled to Japan as part of entertainment after she joined the army special services in 1948. While abroad, she kept a journal documenting all the discrimination she saw towards soldiers and children.
At the time, President Truman had ordered troops to be desegregated, but General McCarthy refused. The African American soldiers faced abuse and racial slurs. Babies were abandoned and orphaned if they were born to Japanese mothers and Black fathers.
Payne shared her journal with a reporter for the Chicago Defender, a newspaper made for African American communities. Her writings made the front page and was offered a full-time position in 1951.
Her works and style were met with criticism from the beginning. Payne wrote the cold, hard truth; she wrote the news honestly and straightforwardly.
Payne kept telling the true stories and voices that were underrepresented. She focused on giving attention to people of color, women and the struggles they faced everyday.
Ethel Payne relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1952 and became the second Black woman to ever join the White House press corp. She continued to ask hard questions such as asking President Eisenhower if he will enforce the decision of Brown v. Board of Education.
The President even refused to answer her questions because he was getting backlash due to his dismissive responses. His cabinet and supporters opened an investigation against Payne, looking at her tax records to find anything to discredit her.
This “dismissal” simply allowed her to work on reporting and bringing more awareness to the civil rights movement across the nation. Payne reported on the bus boycotts, and Rosa Parks, and even interviewed Martin Luther King Jr. before he became a nationally known leader.
She even started traveling overseas to report on international events such as going full circle by reporting on another war, the Vietnam War, as an official journalist this time. She covered tough topics such as her experience watching citizens suffer from agent orange. Without her, the knowledge of its true effects could still be unknown.
After years of writing and being blunt with her readers, Ethel Payne accepted a job with CBS. She became the first African American woman on national television as a radio and television commentator.
Through it all, Payne kept working for the Chicago Defender, the first newspaper to give her a voice and a chance. She worked for CBS from 1972-1982 and left the Chicago Defender in 1978.
Ethel Payne asked the tough questions. She gave a voice to those who needed it and was known for her straightforward writing by not holding anything back. She broke barriers as a Black woman.
The legacy and life of Ethel Payne should not be as hidden as it is. Her success can be motivation for countless people chasing their dreams and not being afraid to push back.
I was lucky enough to come across a paragraph about Ethel Payne and was in shock after reading an article that I know doesn’t even touch on her full story.
To find out more stories about powerful women, especially in honor of Women’s History Month, you can visit this website.