TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
TO THE CHAPTER INVISIBLE
“He was the guiding light for the editorial vision of Ebony. Lerone was not just essential in the formation of Ebony's historic trajectory; he was a pillar in the Black community.”
• Salute to Greatness Award from Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (1996) • Distinguished W.E.B. DuBois Scholarship Award from the Association of Social and Be- havioral Scientists (2004) • Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (2003) • Candace Award from the Na- tional Coalition of 100 Black Women • Literature Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters (1978) • Patron Saints Award from the Society of Midland Authors (1965)
In 1968, He spent two years as visiting professor of history at Northwestern University. Bennett served for many years as Board Secretary for the More- house College Board of Trustees. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Columbia College in Chicago and the Chicago History Museum. He was a member of the board of directors for the Chicago Public Library. President Bill Clinton appointed Bennett to the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities and President George W. Bush appointed him to the Presidential Commission on the National Museum of African-American History and Cul- ture. He was a founding sponsor for the Washington D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Founda- tion. Bennett also served as advisor and consultant to several national organiza- tions and commissions, including the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders. He was a former member of the Black Academy of Arts and Letters, the Race Relations Information Center, the Institute of the Black World, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center. Brother Bennett was a Life Member of Kappa Alpha Psi. According to Grand Polemarch Thomas L. Battles, Jr. “Broth- er Bennett epitomized the word achieve- ment. Many of our noted Kappa scholars and leaders looked at Brother Bennett as a mentor, advisor and counselor. As we continue to encourage brothers to achieve in every field of human endeav- or, let us continue to remember Brother Bennett, who was a role model that brothers can forever strive to emulate.” He also held memberships in Phi Beta Kappa, Sigma Phi Pi, and Sigma Delta
Chi Journalism Society.
He is preceded in death by his parents, a sister, his wife former Johnson Publish- ing Co. journalist Gloria Sylvester and his son, Lerone Bennett III (Pi 1981). Brother Bennett is survived by three daughters, Alma Joy, Courtney, and Con- stance and three granddaughters.
There were a few digressions in the early years. At one time, I wanted to become a lawyer and I played in a band as a jazz musician. But I guess I’m pretty much like anyone else who writes: it’s inevitable,” stated Bennett. After graduating from Morehouse College with a B.A degree in 1949, he served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Bennett began his professional journalistic career as a reporter at the Atlanta Daily World newspaper. In 1952, he became the paper’s City Editor prior to leaving the newspaper for Chicago. In 1953, he joined Johnson Publishing Company’s Jet magazine as its Associate Editor and one year later, he became Associate Editor for Ebony magazine. He was named Executive Editor in 1987 and Executive Editor Emeritus upon his retirement in 2003. Beginning in 1954, Bennett published within the pages of Ebony a succession of wide ranging articles and essays focusing on the struggle for civil rights, African American history, and cultural awareness. Starting in the 1950s, his incisive inter- pretations of people of African ancestry in shaping America triggered his ascension to literary prominence. As magazine editor, he marshalled the magazine’s coverage of the civil rights movement including contributing observant and critical essays of the era. Published in 1962, Bennett’s landmark “Before the Mayflower: History of Black America 1692-1962” was his first book and originated from a series of penned es- says in Ebony on the numerous achievements of African civilizations and chroni- cled America’s legacy on race, slavery, and discrimination. This seminal best seller is considered one of the most influential and popular books on Black history. “What Manner of Man” published in 1964, was one of the first biographies of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom Bennett knew since their days together as students at Morehouse College. His critically acclaimed book, “Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln’s White Dream” was controversial, at the time of his publication in 2000, for its unflattering and historically accurate perspective of President Abra- ham Lincoln; challenging the 16 th President of the United States’ reputation as the “Great Emancipator.” Other books from the Bennett literary gallery: The Negro Mood, Succeeding Against the Odds: The Autobiography of a Great American Businessman, Confrontation: Black and White, Black Power U.S.A., The Human Side of Reconstruction 1867-1877, Pioneers in Protest, The Shaping of Black America, and The Challenge of Blackness and Great Moments in Black History. He was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades recognizing his significant achievements in literature, history, and civil rights. In 1969, “Lerone Bennett Jr Day” was held in his hometown of Jackson, MS as part of Tougaloo College 100 th anniversary celebration. In 1997, he was named as a distinguished Mississippian at the University of Mississippi, and was featured, along with Richard Wright, Eu- dora Welty, Shelby Foote, and others, in the book Mississippi Writers: Reflections of Childhood and Youth. He was also awarded:
for the editorial vision of Ebony. Lerone was not just essential in the formation of Ebony’s historic trajectory; he was a pillar in the Black community.” Lerone Bennett Jr. was born on October 17, 1928, in Clarksdale, MS, to Lerone Sr. and Alma Reed Bennett. Bennett moved to Jackson, MS when he was a child. He attended public schools in Jackson graduating from Lanier High School in 1945. His life-long affinity to the written word began while at Lanier where he served as the editor of the school newspaper. He also was a teenage reporter for the Jackson Advocate and the Mississippi Enterprise newspapers. Bennett left Mississippi in 1945 to attend historic Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. Inspired by the leadership of famed Morehouse College President Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, he credited his Morehouse experience as pivotal to his academic, personal, professional, and intellectual development. He served on the student council as sophomore and junior class president, as editor of the stu- dent newspaper and class yearbook, and as president of the Journalistic Society. He was a school newspaper staff member when early writings by fellow Morehouse student Martin Luther King Jr. were pub- lished in the Maroon Tiger. As a sopho- more student, he joined the fraternity as a 1946 initiate of the Morehouse College Chapter, the Pi of Kappa Alpha Psi ® . Bennett commented in a 1966 Kappa Alpha Psi Journal about his early life: “I was born in Mississippi – I guess I always wrote, at least after I was ten years old. In high school I edited the school paper then went to Morehouse College where I edited the school newspaper and yearbook.
• Book of the Year from the Capital Press Club (1963)
• American Book Award for “Forced into Glory” (2002)
• International Civil Rights Walk of Fame (2007) • Inductee, the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Black Journalists (2006)
In 2007, the Mississippi State Senate honored him with a concurrent resolu- tion in recognition of his distinguished literary career. Numerous colleges and universities, including his alma ma- ter, bestowed Bennett with honorary degrees.
“Brother Bennett epitomized the word achievement. Many of our noted Kappa scholars and leaders looked to Brother Bennett as a mentor, advisor and counselor.”
98 | WINTER ISSUE THE JOURNAL
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
Publishing achievement for more than 100 years
THE JOURNAL WINTER ISSUE | 99
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