author
Louis E. Lomax
1922–1970
A pioneering journalist and author, he helped bring the Black freedom struggle to a national audience and became widely recognized as the first African American television journalist. His books and reporting captured the urgency, debate, and human stakes of the civil rights era.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, in 1922, Louis E. Lomax studied at Paine College, American University, and Yale, where he earned a Ph.D. Trained in philosophy but drawn to public life, he worked as a teacher, reporter, and later a major voice on race relations in the United States.
Lomax is best remembered for breaking barriers in broadcast journalism. He became known as the first African American television journalist, and his reporting helped introduce national audiences to key figures and tensions within the civil rights movement. He also wrote several influential books, including The Negro Revolt and When the Word Is Given, which explored the movement at a moment of rapid change.
His work was direct, intelligent, and often ahead of its time, blending on-the-ground reporting with sharp analysis. Though he died in 1970 at just 47, his career remains an important part of both American journalism and the story of civil rights-era media.