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“By overcoming adversity, Simeon Booker became not only a
trailblazer in his field, but also a role model for
generations to come,” Portman stated. “He devoted his life’s
work to chronicling the history of the civil rights movement
in America and is very deserving of the Presidential Medal
of Freedom.”
“Simeon Booker surely deserves this prestigious award.
Throughout his long and illustrious career, Booker risked
his own safety to bring groundbreaking coverage of the civil
rights movement and the Vietnam War to the American people,
and in doing so forever changed our nation for the better.
Simeon Booker has devoted his life’s work to breaking
barriers and changing the hearts and minds of all those he
touched through his writing. He is a true American hero,”
said Ryan.
“Simeon Booker is proof that great journalism can help
change the course of history,” Brown said. “He stopped at
nothing to cover key moments in the civil rights movement
and his work helped advance the cause of civil rights in
America. There is no honor more fitting for Booker than the
Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Portman previously
honored
Booker’s legacy with a Congressional Record entry when
Booker received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from
Youngstown State University.
Simeon Booker, who grew up in Youngstown, OH, began his
career writing about Negro League baseball teams for the
Youngstown Vindicator. In 1950, he received the Nieman
Fellowship to study journalism and develop his talent as a
reporter. After one year at Harvard, Booker became the first
full-time African-American reporter at the Washington Post.
In 1955 he helped advance the civil rights movement with his
famous coverage of the Emmett Till murder and trial –
turning a common occurrence in the Deep South into a
national tragedy that united the African American community.
In 1961, he rode with the Congress On Racial Equality (CORE)
Freedom Riders through the Deep South. When they were
firebombed and beaten by the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama, Booker
arranged for their rescue by calling U.S. Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy.
Simeon Booker is often referred to as the “Dean of the Black
Press.” He has covered every presidential election since
1953 and is the author of two highly acclaimed books:
Shocking the Conscience: A Reporter’s Account of the Civil
Rights Movement and Black Man’s America.
His honors and awards include: Nieman Fellowship, Harvard
University 1950; President of the Capitol Press Club, 1956;
Fourth Estate Award, National Press Club, 1982: Inducted
into Hall of Fame, Washington Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi,
and Hall of Fame of Washington, D.C. 1984; Master
Communicators Award, National Black Media Coalition, 1998;
Phoenix Award, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, 2010;
Inducted into Hall of Fame, National Association of Black
Journalists, 2013.
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