Foundation For Progress In Journalism Honors Curry, Smiley, Logan

By Ariel WorthyThe Birmingham Times

Growing up in Tuscaloosa, George Curry read newspapers and knew then that African-Americans needed a stronger voice in journalism.

“He said he had never seen a black journalist, and the only stories he had read (about black people) in The Tuscaloosa News were for a white person needing a black person to clean their house or something that was negative,” recalled Ann Ragland, Curry’s longtime companion. “He was determined that he was going to write something more positive for black people. He wanted the generation that followed him to know that there are black journalists out there.”

Curry, who died of heart failure on Aug. 20, 2016, at age 69, was truly a media giant. He was a driving force behind African-American-focused newspapers and magazines. And he was renowned as the dean of black press columnists because of his riveting weekly commentary that was featured in black newspapers across the country, including The Birmingham Times.On Friday, the Foundation for Progress in Journalism (FPJ) will celebrate the exemplary achievements of Curry and Alabama-born media luminaries broadcaster Rickey Smiley and businessman Don Logan during its Second Annual Medal of Honor Awards Reception at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex Concert Hall. The event will be capped off with a public concert headlined by Grammy–nominated singer-songwriter Brian McKnight.

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