The Power of Her Pen

The Groundbreaking Story
of the Journalist
Ethel L. Payne

Paula Wiseman Books
(Simon & Schuster)
(pub. 1.14.2020) 
48 pages

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Lesa Cline-Ransome
 and illustrator:  John Parra

 
C haracter: Ethel L. Payne

O verview: 
     "Ethel Payne always had an ear for stories. Seeking truth, justice, and equality, Ethel followed stories from her school newspaper in Chicago to Japan during World War II. It even led her to the White House briefing room, where she broke barriers as the only black female journalist. Ethel wasn’t afraid to ask the tough questions of presidents, elected officials, or anyone else in charge, earning her the title, 'First Lady of the Black Press.'

         Fearless and determined, Ethel Payne shined a light on the darkest moments in history, and her ear for stories sought answers to the questions that mattered most in the fight for Civil Rights."

T antalizing taste: 
     "On Saturdays, once the house was spotless, Bessie took Ethel and her five siblings to the white side of town where there were libraries with shelves stacked tall with books. There, Ethel flipped through pages and memorized  passages to recite to anyone who would listen...
      Ethel walked a mile to school each day. The neighborhood residents  screamed and yelled and threw rocks at a black girl who dared to go to school  with whites. 'Sometimes I stood my ground, sometimes I got a bloody nose from fighting. But that was the way it was,' Ethel recalled later."
    
And something more: Ethel Payne said that she had a “box seat to history.” Due to her prominence in the black press, she was invited by President Lyndon Johnson to visit the White House when he signed both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  In 1988 the District of Columbia Women’s Hall of Fame inducted Payne into their ranks. She also won awards from the Chicago Council on Foreign Affairs and the National Association for Black Journalists.