Payne, Leslie “Les”

Jarrett, Vernon Daurice

1918-2004

Became the first African American syndicated columnist at both the Chicago Tribune (1970) and the Chicago Sun-Times (1983), writing nearly 4,000 columns over a 50-year career and co-founding the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975

Stone, Charles Sumner “Chuck” Jr.

1924-2014

Became the first Black columnist at the Philadelphia Daily News in 1972, syndicated to nearly 100 publications, and co-founded and served as the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975

Robinson, Maxie Cleveland Jr.

1939-1988

Became, in 1978, the first African American to anchor a nightly network newscast, co-anchoring ABC's “World News Tonight” from Chicago alongside Frank Reynolds and Peter Jennings, and co-founded the National Association of Black Journalists in 1975

Muhammad, Ozier

1950-present

Shared the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for Newsday’s “Africa, the Desperate Continent” series documenting famine on the continent, then spent 22 years as a staff photographer for The New York Times covering Nelson Mandela’s inauguration, Barack Obama’s presidential campaign, and Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath