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Curry traces passion to ’60sBy NELLIE BRADLEY Monitor Staff During the 1960s in Tuscaloosa, Ala., there was segregation, a quest for civil rights, and a new hope for African-Americans. This new hope included one teenager who would soon be noted journalist George Curry. Curry is one of several journalists who will be honored during tonight’s opening and Salute to Excellence Awards Ceremony. Curry is editor in chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations News Service and BlackPressUSA.com, but in the ’60s, he was just a teen with a pen and a dream. His fondness for journalism was sparked after reading The Pittsburgh Courier as a kid. It was one of the largest distributed black newspapers. “In The Pittsburgh Courier, they just wrote about issues you cared about,” Curry said. That passion stuck, and Curry emerged to become a fighter and symbol for African-American journalists through his mentoring and aggressive coverage of issues. “I made it very clear that we [African-Americans] were not going to be second-best,” he said. Such standards prompted the National Association of Black Journalists to name Curry its 2003 Journalist of the Year. Others to be singled out for the organization’s highest honors include Frank Bolden, who is receiving the Legacy Award; the late Greg Freeman, Lifetime Achievement Award; and Yvonne Harris, Community Service Award. The opening ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. in the Landmark Ballroom. It will feature a colorful flag procession by the Parade of Nations and a martial arts demonstration by the Dallas-based Malandrof de Mestre Toro. Dallas Mayor Laura Miller will deliver the greeting at the conference. She plans to speak about her past career as a journalist in a speech she calls “From Muckraker to Mayor.” |
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