Ebony's Era Bell Thompson Travels the World to Tell the Story

Abstract

This article identifies and examines the works of Era Bell Thompson, a foreign correspondent at a time when women and African Americans were not traditionally found in those positions. A textual analysis of approximately thirty articles Thompson wrote for Ebony magazine between 1953 and 1974 found she educated readers about the history, geography and culture of the places she covered; and she juxtaposed race relations and developments abroad that affected people of color worldwide with what was happening in the United States. Liberation movements in African and Caribbean nations, as well as personal and professional achievements of black people abroad, also figured prominently in Thompson's foreign correspondence. She stressed reconciliation and integration and offered that conflicts in developing nations and racism everywhere could be overcome through collective efforts that would lead to advancement of all people of color. Thompson's work is significant because her foreign correspondence framed blacks worldwide positively when the black press believed mainstream press international reporting either ignored or framed them negatively. By illuminating Thompson's work and perspective, this article elevates an obscure, pioneering female African American in journalism history and contributes to the discourse on the elite area of foreign correspondence.