By Deborah Bailey,
Contributing Editor,
Afro American Newspapers
Washington D.C.’s black journalism and communications royalty gathered for a glorious reunion December 10. After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, the Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ) gathered in downtown D.C. for a Special Honors Awards Gala, celebrating Black Excellence in Media.
Multiple rounds of Covid-19 confined W.A.B.J’s membership to an on-line presence that some thought would never end. But earlier this year, Khorri Atkinson, W.A.B.J. president, and other officers of the organization decided it was time to move forward and renew the chapter, started almost 50 years ago, by Black veteran journalists Maureen Bunyan, George E. Curry, Roland Martin, and others.
“Despite the physical distance and challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, I am pleased with the tremendous strides our organization has made in building its membership, programming and outreach efforts to meet the needs of the moment and elevate the legacy of those who created WABJ in 1975,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson and WABJ’s Executive Board got to work, and the result was a stunning in-person reunion of D.C.’s Black Press and communications professionals. The program Awards Gala featured five of Washington D.C.’s media and communications giants, who were honored for exemplary contributions to journalism and mass communication.
Former Washington Post and Washington Afro Correspondent, Hamil R. Harris (Legacy), Nolan D. McCaskill, (Young Journalist of the Year), Angeles Times Congressional Reporter, Adelle Banks (Lifetime Achievement Award), Projects Editor and National Reporter for the Religion News Service, Lon Walls, (Excellence in Communications Award) President and C.E.O. of Walls Communication, Inc., and Tracee Wilkins, (Journalist of the Year Award) NBC4 Washington, Prince George’s County Bureau Chief were nominated and honored by their peers at the event.
“I cried when I learned that I would receive this award because it comes from a new generation of reporters, writers and editors who are members of WABJ,” Harris said.
Harris started his journalism career with the D.C. Bureau of the Washington AFRO in 1986 and was hired by the Washington Post in 1992. Harris continued to contribute to the Afro and is now a correspondent for several local and national publications, including the Washington Informer.
“I felt that the work I have done over these years has made a difference,” Harris added.
NBC4 Prince George’s County Bureau Chief Tracee Wilkins, was honored by her peers as Journalist of the Year. Wilkins’ investigative reporting discriminatory practices in law enforcement as well as her portrayals of everyday residents doing good works, afforded an opportunity to build the station’s Prince George’s County bureau from the ground up.
Born and raised in Beltsville, Maryland, Wilkins said her greatest honor is when Prince George’s County neighbors thank her for covering a story improving the quality of their lives.
“To be nominated and supported by this historical organization and my esteemed colleagues is humbling. It is my mission to tell the stories of my people with dignity, honesty, and truth. I am thankful I get to do this work in the community that raised me,” Wilkins said.
Mayor Muriel Bowser congratulated the gathering, many of whom have covered her work starting with the years she served as 4th Ward Council woman and during her last two terms as mayor of the District.
“I know how important it is for the Black Press to have access and to tell our stories in ways that are compelling to the people of the District of Columbia,” Bowser said.
The evening also included a special guest presentation by Jalyn Hall, the young, upcoming actor who portrays Emmett Till in the acclaimed movie “TILL.” Hall announced NABJ’s newly expanded commitment to mentoring up and coming young journalists.
Atkinson surprised Veteran NPR Associate Producer Trina Williams with the President’s Award for her longstanding work as Coordinator of the organization’s Urban Journalism Workshop for high school students.
Then the room grew silent, and eyes welled as video rolled in a memorial tribute to colleagues who transitioned in 2022, some just months ago. The evening ended in reflection as those gathered remembered WJLA’s Renee Poussaint, WHUR’s Joe Gorham and Gregory Mosso, WUSA’s Bruce Johnson, WPFW and The Final Call’s Askia Muhammad, Black Radio Exclusive Magazine’s Founder, Sidney Miller, CNN’s Bernard Shaw and Paul Brock, Founding Executive Director of the National Association of Black Journalists.
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