Booker deserves nation’s highest civilian honor

Booker deserves nation’s highest civilian honor

Black History Month is a time to celebrate the achievements of black Americans and recognize their central role in U.S. history. One such example is Youngstown native Simeon Booker. For more than 60 years, Mr. Booker dedicated his life to covering the stories that the mainstream media would not, bringing our nation’s struggle for greater freedom and equality to the attention of all Americans. That’s why I have called on President Obama to award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation’s highest civilian honor.

Raised in Youngstown, Mr. Booker began his journalism career publishing articles about local Negro Baseball League games in The Vindicator. As a reporter for The Cleveland Call and Post, he became the first African-American to win the Newspaper Award for his series on slum housing in Cleveland, and a Wilkie Award for his reporting on racial inequities in public schools. In 1950, Mr. Booker was awarded the Nieman Fellowship from Harvard University to further develop his talents, and later became the first African-American reporter at The Washington Post.

Early in his career, Mr. Booker stood on the forefront of the civil-rights movement, advancing the cause of civil rights through his reporting. In 1955, his coverage of the Emmett Till murder and trial helped turn a local tragedy into a national turning point. In 1957, he covered the desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. In 1961, Mr. Booker was the only journalist to accompany the Freedom Riders on their interstate bus ride through the segregated South. When the Freedom Riders were ambushed by the Ku Klux Klan, he arranged for their air rescue by calling U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Later in his career, Mr. Booker traveled twice to Vietnam to interview black soldiers on the front lines, collecting firsthand accounts of the racial turmoil within the newly-integrated U.S. military.

The threat of violence was constant. Despite the dangers, Mr. Booker’s commitment to documenting African-American casualties and the experience of black servicemen in the Vietnam War never wavered. For him, “fear never produced progress.”

I encourage you to take some time to learn more about this great American and the courageous steps he took to make our nation a better place for all. At 97, Simeon Booker is still a hometown hero that we can all be proud of.

Rep. Tim Ryan, Howland

Ryan, a Democrat, represents the 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.