By Aria Brent
AFRO Staff Writer
abrent@afro.com

The AFRO team is home to more than 15 awards from the MDDC Press Association Editorial and Advertising Contest. Shown here: Ariyana Grifin (left); Reginald Williams; Tashi McQueen; Ralph Moore; Marnita Coleman; Mylika Scatliffe; Erica Alston Buck; Alexis Taylor and AFRO Publisher and CEO, Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper.

Throughout the last year the AFRO has worked hard to produce content that is worth consuming and that hard work was recognized and rewarded at this year’s Maryland, Delaware, DC (MDDC) Press Association’s Editorial and Advertising contest. A total of 18 members of the AFRO’s staff and freelance writing teams took home awards,  including recognition in the General News Photo, Best Photo Gallery, Breaking News and Social Media, Editorial and Editorial Cartoon categories.

Coverage of events such as the March on Washington’s 60th anniversary, the 2023 CIAA basketball tournament, the Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary and the Morgan State homecoming shooting were reported and covered with diligence by the 131 year old publication during 2023. Featured AFRO team members that took home an award from the 2024 ceremony include:

Helen Bezuneh; Aria Brent; Darius Brockett;  Rev. Heber Brown III; Ericka Alston Buck; Marnita Coleman; Reuben Greene; Ariyana Griffin; Re’Jon Jones; DaQuan Lawrence; Tashi McQueen; Ralph E. Moore; Dana Peck; Alexis Taylor; Kofi Tyus; Megan Sayles; Jared Still; Reginald Williams and the AFRO staff at large. 

AFRO managing editor Alexis Taylor was amongst this year’s award recipients. As a writer and leader of the AFRO editorial team she was proud to see the publications progress awarded, noting that even through times of difficulty the staff created stories that were factual and well written.

“I am so proud of the entire AFRO team, but the award that really made me feel like we are truly making progress as a publication was the “Best in Show” award for breaking news on social media,” said Taylor. “The night of the Morgan State University shooting was a rough one. As a Morgan alum, it was heartbreaking to watch such a tragic event take place during a week meant for homecoming celebrations. I gave a call to Ms. Ariyana Griffin, a student at Morgan, and she immediately jumped into action.”

Taylor thanked Griffin, who was an intern at the time, for her hard work and service to the AFRO.

“Her reporting is why we have that award. Her willingness to leave the comforts of home in the middle of the night for a story led us to take a category usually reserved for the mainstream media giants of our market. Ms. Griffin and writers of her caliber will surely take the AFRO into the future.” 

Several awards were won collectively by members of team AFRO such as the Religion Reporting award, which was won by Marnita Coleman, Rev. Heber Brown III, Jared Still and the AFRO staff at large. Additionally, several staff members were recognized for their work in the category for Continuing Coverage, including DaQuan Lawrence, Aria Brent, Ralph E. Moore Jr., Re’Jon Jones, Helen Bezuneh and the AFRO staff at large. 

Long-time AFRO writer and columnist, Ralph E. Moore, Jr., reflected on how it felt to contribute to the legacy of Maryland’s oldest Black owned business and have his work recognized.

“It was a wonderful surprise to receive awards for columns I wrote for the AFRO American Newspaper. It is the honor of my life to have worked for such an esteemed media source,” Moore stated. “The AFRO is an important institution in Baltimore and the award from the MDDC Press Association for AFRO writing is a tremendous honor for me.”

Members of the AFRO team weren’t the only journalists of color to be recognized. After the ceremony, the AFRO was delighted to catch up with Baltimore Banner data reporter and MDDC Rookie of the Year award winner, Greg Morton. 

The award is given out each year to a promising journalist that’s been working professionally for less than 18 months. Following the award ceremony, Morton discussed what journalism means to him.

“For me, journalism is about getting the opportunity to do interesting research and to do research that’s a little more actionable and accessible,” Morton stated. “That’s what it’s about for me really– getting to do research that makes an impact on the community.”

The budding journalist also shared a piece of advice for other journalism rookies.

“Do the stuff that you think is interesting,” he said. “A lot of this came from me getting the opportunity to work on stuff that I thought was fun to talk to people about and fun to work on. I think the quality of the work was respected and reflective of that.” 

As the year continues, the AFRO is excited to continue covering the news that matters most to our readers and the opportunity to create stories that are helping shape the landscape of Black media. 

The full list of AFRO team members that won at this year’s award ceremony and their respective awards can be found below. 

  • Helen Bezuneh: 2nd Place for Continuing Coverage- Division F
  • Aria Brent: 2nd Place for Continuing Coverage- Division F
  • Darius Brockett: : 1st Place for Multimedia Storytelling (Sports)- Division F
  • Rev. Heber Brown III: 1st Place for Religion Reporting- Division F
  • Ericka Alston Buck: 2nd Place for Arts/Entertainment Reporting- DIvision F
  • Marnita Coleman: 1st Place for Religion Reporting- Division F
  • Reuben Greene: 1st Place for Public Service- Division F
  • Ariyana Griffin: 1st Place and Best in Show for Breaking News and Social Media- Division F
  • Re’Jon Jones: 2nd Place for Continuing Coverage- Division F
  • DaQuan Lawrence: 2nd Place for Continuing Coverage- Division F
  • Tashi McQueen: 2nd Place for Local Government- Division F
  • Ralph E. Moore Jr.: 2nd Place for Continuing Coverage- Division F; 1st Place for Local Column: Critical Thinking- Division F; 1st Place and Best in Show for Sports Column
  • Dana Peck: 1st Place and Best in Show for Breaking News and Social Media- Division F
  • Alexis Taylor: 2nd Place for State Government- Division F; 1st Place and Best in Show for Breaking News and Social Media- Division F ; 1st Place and Best in Show for Editorial- Division F
  • Kofi Tyus: 1st Place and Best in Show for Editorial Cartoon- Division F
  • Megan Sayles: 1st Place for Investigative Reporting- Division F, 1st Place for Sports Feature Story- Division F
  • Jared Still- 1st Place for Religion Reporting- Division F
  • Reginald Williams: 1st Place for Media/Science Reporting- Division F

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