PEOPLE POWER

Some things never change

Journalism gives people a voice. It can put forth the view of the minority and every day it documents history. The continued practice of journalism, both online and via traditional print media, ensures we remember events and even people after they have passed on. Without documentation, stories are not just forgotten, they essentially pass into folklore. The fight for civil rights in South Florida, which started in the 1940’s, is a testament to journalism’s importance.

A recent media panel held at the University of Miami on Monday February 18 presented a chance for students to hear the tales of yesteryear and be reminded of some of the harsh realities of inequality that still persist today. All the panelists spoke of their courage in the space of adversity to restore a semblance of equal opportunity. Garth Reeves, a distinguished former publicist for Miami Times, remembers growing up in Miami during the civil rights fight:
“We sat at the back of the bus, didn’t go to white places and couldn’t even try on a hat downtown”.

Reeves became a writer during the tumultuous times of the civil rights movement. He says he had to take chances he normally wouldn’t. Reeves likened writing to journalism with your hands tied behind your back, but gradually the black minority gained ‘a voice’ and was able to change the structures that had been put in place. Reeves says that he is now “glad to see that we’ve made strides and that my colleagues now in the field of journalism are free as a bird”.

CT Taylor, radio personality and author of ‘yourdailydoesusa.com’, had some words of wisdom for budding journalists. He proclaimed that it didn’t matter what color or what race a journalist was because you are recording history, it is the facts that are important, so be accurate and be truthful above all.

Juanita Green, a former Miami Herald reporter, used to ring houses in advance to let them know that a photographer was on their way and to for them to make sure their residence was presentable.“Often front page stories were of a Negro who had robbed a 7-11 convenience store. We had to change the way people saw us, change the way people looked at Liberty City (a predominantly black neighborhood) she said.”

Green summed it up best when she declared that the inequality was not a fault of an individual, it was the fault of society at the time. There is power and influence in a collective group. Throughout the 1940’s this was displayed through the racism and ‘mob behavior’ that eventuated. However, each panelist represented the sometimes Utopian ideal that the persistent courage of an individual ‘can overcome’ and make a difference, and they did. A similar opportunity presents journalists today and it can be grasped if accuracy, passion and persistence are exuded; just like that displayed by the esteemed panelists who graced UM with their presence.