About
Dr. Milbert O. Brown, Jr. seemed destined for a career in journalism. As a 7-year-old shy kid, Brown rushed home to tell his parents he aspired to become a reporter after his 2nd-grade teacher selected him as the classroom reporter. The Gary, Indiana native later purchased his first camera by selling Grit newspapers to his neighbors. By age 12, he was photographing and writing about his family—later, the world. During his stellar career, Brown was awarded the 2001 Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Explanatory Reporting as a contributing member of the Chicago Tribune team. The National Association of Black Journalists will induct Dr. Brown into the media organization's Journalism Hall of Fame (2024) because of his lifelong exemplary work and commitment to reporting excellence. Previously, he was inducted into Ball State University's School of Journalism and Strategic Communication as a 2023 Hall of Fame inductee. Brown was also honored as one of the top 90 Black photojournalists in the United States when he was selected as a member of the "Gordon Parks Ninety." Brown's influence on Black storytelling is immeasurable. He has been a guiding light for over four decades, skillfully weaving the vibrant tapestry of African American life and history. His roles as an editor, educator, photojournalist, and writer have not only chronicled history but also shaped it, establishing him as one of the most gifted storytellers in America. For the past year, Brown, a recipient of the Taking Focus BIPOC Grant, has been documenting the Black experience photographically in communities throughout the United States. In 2003, he wrote Family Treasures: Memoirs of the Blanchard Family. This genealogical book traced a Black family's history from their 1690 French roots through slavery in Mississippi to the beginning of the 21st century. Brown's approach to reporting always has been multi-dimensional. He served as a picture editor and photojournalist at the Boston Globe and the Chicago Tribune during his career. Earlier, he was a public affairs writer for government agencies. While completing his graduate studies, famed Watergate editor Ben Bradlee hired Brown to intern for the Washington Post. Of the hundreds of assignments Brown has covered during his journalism career, the two most notable are his coverage of South Africa's first all-race election and the subsequent inauguration of Nelson Mandela as the President of South Africa in 1994. During his month-long reporting in South Africa, he was a member of the Foreign Correspondents Association. Later, Brown was one of six U.S. journalists selected by the United Nations to cover Liberia's presidential elections as a 2005 United Nations Overseas Reporting Fellow. After retiring from the newspaper industry, Brown’s reporting interest extended beyond traditional media, with his role as the prestigious International Editor for the Oracle Magazine, the membership publication of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Dr. Brown also served as a journalism professor at two of America’s most prominent Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ Howard and Wilberforce Universities. Recently, Brown was appointed to the Society of American Baseball Research's Special Negro League Task Force. The committee's ongoing study has contributed literature, history, and statistical records to Major League Baseball. (MLB). He also is the public relations chairman of the Simmons Museum of Negro Leagues Baseball. Dr. Brown is a life member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and the National Association of Black Journalists. Currently, he teaches courses in multimedia, photojournalism, and reporting at Olivet University, visual arts in Baltimore's Public Schools, and serves as a media consultant working on photography and writing projects Dr. Brown holds a Doctorate in Education from Morgan State University, a master's from Ohio University, and a Bachelor's in Journalism from Ball State University. " COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Brown's consistent effort to increase positive storytelling images in underserved communities includes founding a ground-breaking photography organization, the Chicago Alliance of African American Photographers. In 1999, Brown conceptualized that the group would launch a project entitled "The Journey: The Next 100 Years." The sole mission of the project would be to photographically document the Greater Chicago area's Black community at the beginning of the 21st century. In Vibe Magazine's March 2001 issue, the editors said: "Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks … provided a considerable amount of her poetry depicting the life and times of Black people in Chicago. Milbert O. Brown, Jr., a staff photojournalist at the Chicago Tribune, spearheaded the formation of the Chicago Alliance of African-American Photographers, and he did for the Windy City with cameras what Brooks had done with poetry." |