Civil Rights writer Booker receives prestigious Polk honor

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Simeon Booker, a journalist raised in Youngstown, is the 2015 recipient of the prestigious George Polk Career Achievement Award for his courageous reporting throughout the civil-rights movement.

Throughout his 60-plus years in the field, mostly at JET magazine, Booker covered countless historical events – from the 1963 March on Washington to the campaign of President Barack Obama.

Long Island University, the host of the George Polk awards, stated in a press release that it places “a premium on investigative and enterprising reporting that gains attention and achieves results.”

His coverage of the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was beaten and drowned in Mississippi for purportedly whistling at a white woman, unmistakably exposed the reality of inequality to the entire nation and pushed the civil-rights movement forward.

This unwavering dedication to reporting the truth, however unpleasant or dangerous it may have been for himself, will be honored and recognized by the Polk Career award.

Other notable Polk award winners are Garry Trudeau, creator of the “Doonesbury” comic strip, and Morley Safer, host of the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes.”

Booker, along with the other 2015 Polk winners, will receive his award at a 6:30 p.m. ceremony April 8 at The Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.

Booker was nominated last year for the Presidential Medal of Honor – the nation’s highest civilian achievement honor awarded by the president. The nomination was sent by Ohio’s Congressional delegation led by U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th.

In 2013, Youngstown State University bestowed an honorary doctorate degree on Booker during fall commencement ceremonies.

The Vindicator maintains a website chronicling Booker’s life at vindy.com/booker. A White House petition is linked there in support of Ryan’s medal-of-honor letter.