Simeon Booker

Simeon Booker is a celebrated reporter who contributed considerably to the media coverage of the Civil Rights Movement particularly during the Emmett Till murder trial and Freedom Rides. Booker's dedication to both Civil Rights and Jet magazine, where he worked during coverage of the Till murder and the Freedom Rides helped to distinguish his career. Booker spent several decades working for Jet Magazine and in fact, was recently honored for having worked there for fifty years. Simeon Booker was the first African-American reporter to work for the Washington Post. Likewise, he has achieved several honors including the Harvard Nieman Fellowship and the National Press Club's Fourth State Award.

Civil Rights Era

While the Freedom Riders were at the Birmingham airport (trying to be moved to New Orleans), Booker was the on-site reporter. It was Booker who expressed the extremity and desperation of the situation there to the Attorney General. Following this phone call, the Federal government stepped up intervention into the South. In addition, Booker spent time aboard a bus from Birmingham to Atlanta, another Freedom Ride event. He reported it to be one of the most dangerous and frightening experiences he had ever witnessed, in spite of twenty years experience in the field of journalism.

Bibliography

Information for this biography was gathered from the following sources:

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