The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis honored twelve local Black journalists Saturday with 2022 Outstanding Merit Awards.
Those awarded included St. Louis American News Editor Alvin A. Reid and Sylvester Brown Jr., the American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow, who writes about COVID19. The other nine esteemed Black journalists honored were Maurice Drummond of KMOV Channel 4, Ruth Ezell of KETC Channel 9, Robin Boyce and Tim Lampley of STL TV, Ty Hawkins, Kim Hudson and Shirley Washington of KTVI Channel 2, and also Art Holliday and Robert Townsend of KSDK, and Kevin Johnson of The St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Also, in honor of his contributions to the St. Louis community, the Urban League announced President and CEO Michael McMillan’s name will grace a street to the east of its headquarter on N. Kingshighway.
Michael P. McMillan Way begins at the intersection of Aubert Avenue and Page Boulevard and run north on Aubert Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.
The American City editor and Sportswriter Alvin A. Reid was honored for his diligent and consistent journalistic drive. Reid has written for USA Today, Arkansas Gazette, Danville (Illinois) Commercial-News, Lansing (Michigan) State-Journal, among other newspapers. Reid also is a panelist on the PBS show ‘Donnybrook,’ which primarily covers politics.
Reid’s work earned him honors in 1999, 2017, and 2021 as Missouri Press Association Best Sports Columnist for weeklies. Reid was also a member of the inaugural staff of the 101 ESPN and worked on-air for the sports talk radio station from 2010-14. In addition, Reid also wrote and published a Baseball book titled “Whitey’s Boys: A Celebration of the ’82 Cardinals World Championship.”
In the mid-’80s, Reid wrote award-winning pieces covering Proposition 48, a controversial federal regulation that mandated the minimum high school grades and scores on standardized college entrance exams for student-athletes to participate in sports as freshmen.
The measure that was eventually approved was criticized because it disproportionately affected Black athletes. Prop 48 was the controversial regulation that mandates minimum high school grades and scores on standardized college entrance exams for student-athletes to participate in sports as freshmen.
The Urban League lauded Sylvester Brown Jr.’s contribution to St. Louis journalism and his dedication to storytelling. A longtime writer, Brown Jr. published “Take Five” for 15 years and later worked as a Metro columnist for the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Brown, Jr. was inspired to give back to his community and launched the community initiative the Sweet Potato project, which taught city youth entrepreneurship through agriculture.
In 2019, Brown, Jr. began writing non-fiction books based on his community initiative experience including one titled, “When We Listen: Recognizing the Potential of Urban Youth.” Beginning in 2020, The American, in collaboration with the Deaconess Foundation, began publishing Brown Jr.’s work as a Deaconess fellow. Throughout the global pandemic, Brown Jr. has shared compelling local human interest and health stories as the Black community faces the scourge of COVID-19.
Awardee Art Holliday, a news director of 5 On Your Side, was honored for his 40-year career at KSDK. Holliday has won three sportscasting Emmys and was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Greater St. Louis Association of Black Journalists in 2001. Later, in 2009, he was inducted into the St. Louis Media Foundation Hall of Fame. His mental health documentary “Before They Fall Off the Cliff,” was featured at several film festivals. St. Louis County used portions of the film for crisis intervention police training, showing examples of de-escalating encounters with citizens with mental illness.
Robin Boyce was honored for her 30-year career in broadcast journalism. At St. Louis Lambert airport, she currently works as the St. Louis’ Comptroller’s executive assistant liaison.
Honoree Maurice Drummond, KMOV Sports Director, is well known for his captivating broadcasts, including interviews with legends Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky.
Awardee Ty Hawkins was part of the local Fox 2 News Team, and is a former evening anchor at KFBB ABC/FOX in Great Falls, Montana. He and his team launched Montana’s first statewide newscast.
Ruth Ezell is a senior producer and host of KETC’s Living St. Louis and a multiple Emmy Award winner. She began working in St. Louis in 1992 and started part-time at Nine PBS in the fall of 2003, and went full-time in April 2004. She served as a co-host of KMOX Weekend At Your Service from 2003-08.
Shirley Washington joined KTVI in 2007 as an anchor for Fox 2 News. Washington won several prestigious awards including the Edward R. Murrow award, an Emmy, and the Missouri Broadcasters Association award.
Kevin Johnson of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was honored for his entertainment coverage across several publications including Associated Press, CNN, TV Guide, GQ, Billboard, the Washington Post, BBC, VH1, Vibe, E! News, Complex, and Yahoo! News. Johnson was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning writing team for a series on St. Louis race relations.
Robert Townsend is a seasoned broadcaster and began his most recent pursuit at KSDK in 2019. His career has brought him to reporting in several cities nationwide including stations in Tampa, Atlanta, and Kansas City. Through his work he became part of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences MidAmerica chapter and the National Association of Black Journalists.
Kim Hudson began her career as a technician, and eventually became an anchor of the top-rated morning show in the top-25 St. Louis market. She also hosts the number-one rated “Fox 2 News at 9AM.”
McMillan closed Saturday’s event by highlighting the importance of the press, calling Black journalism essential to St. Louis.
“We are doing as much as we can for as many as we can. For as long as we can.” because St. Louis needs that, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without you,” said McMillan.
