Exceeding Dreams and Expectations: Remembering Gwen Ifill

As an aspiring journalist in the mid to late 90s, I had my fair share of role models.  However, whenever I saw Gwen Ifill on NBC during her days as a Capitol Hill correspondent, I was always glued to the television and said to myself, "Now this is someone who knows what she's talking about...and she's a sista!"  So when I heard the news of her succumbing to endometrial cancer and passing at the age of 61 last Monday, I felt alone in my shock for three main reasons: 1) I didn't know she was battling illness; 2) 2016 has been a year filled with several impactful losses, so this was yet another one which hurt; and 3) I was sitting in a cubicle with someone who neither had a clue as to who she was nor the impact she left here in Washington as one of the most elite and revered political writers, reporters and moderators of our time.  Hence, it was only right for me to pay tribute to an indisputable trail blazer in print and broadcast journalism--especially for folks who look like me seeking to thrive in an industry where we are nowhere near the majority...

The daughter of an AME minister and native of Jamaica, Queens who knew she wanted to be a journalist at nine years old, Ifill's rise in the field as a Black woman was not an easy one.  After overcoming a racially-charged incident while interning for the Boston Herald-American and not allowing that to "slow her down", she was offered a job upon graduating from Simmons College in 1977.  From there, she worked for some of the most prestigious papers in the country, including the Baltimore Evening Sun (1981-1984), The Washington Post (1984-1991) and The New York Times as a White House correspondent (1991-1994) after the Post told her she wasn't ready to cover Capitol Hill.  Her initial breakthrough in television came when the late Tim Russert hired her at NBC in 1994, but perhaps one of her greatest achievements came in 1999 when she became moderator of PBS' Washington Week.  This accomplishment made her the first Black woman to host a national political television talk show and was a position she held for 17 years, making her synonymous with the network's longest running program along with the late Paul Duke.  During that time, she also became a senior correspondent for PBS NewsHour and would later join Judy Woodruff in 2013 as co-anchor and co-managing editor of the first all-female anchor team in U.S. broadcast history.

Ifill's ability to be fair and impartial in her journalism manifested itself on the biggest stages in American politics.  In 2004, she became the first Black woman to moderate a vice-presidential debate between Republican Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic candidate Senator John Edwards and would repeat that honor in 2008 moderating the second vice-presidential debate between then-Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin. In February, not only did she become the first Black woman to moderate a presidential debate since former World News Tonight anchor Carole Simpson became the first in 1992, but she and Woodruff also became the first female moderating team in a presidential debate between Democratic presidential candidates Senator Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  In each instance, Ifill was balanced in her treatment of the candidates and never afraid to ask tough questions.  In response to a "conflict of interest" controversy behind the upcoming release of her book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, Ifill defended herself days before the 2008 debate: "I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation.  The proof is in the pudding."

In the wake of her passing, politicians, fellow journalists and friends have showered Ifill with endless praise.  "One of the greatest things about Gwen is that she on these panel shows was often times the only Black female on the show, and I loved the way she asserted herself in situations where she, a lot of times, was the only voice making a certain point--a lot of times with an all-male [typically all-White] panel really having to assert herself," said NBCBLK and The Root writer and Politic365 managing editor Lauren Victoria Burke. "The other thing is it's amazing that this happens at a time when we had all of this journalism based on opinion and political activism and Breitbart and so forth and so on, and what Gwen was doing was straight objective journalism, which is extremely hard to find to say the least."  In a November 15 interview with Roland Martin, National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) President Sarah Glover spoke about her importance to the world of journalism:

Her journalism transcended race.  Her executive producer Sara Just said, "She was a journalist's journalist," and she truly was.  Her reporting commanded respect so much so...that President Obama honored her at his press conference yesterday by kicking off the press conference with a summary of her accomplishments and her impact.  I don't recall what the rest of the press conference was about because that, to me, was just so telling of the impact she had across the industry...of course, she impacted Black journalists and she was an inspirational role model, but her journalism was just at that level.  They say 'gold standard', but our former president Vanessa Williams said she was really the platinum standard of journalism.

In his aforementioned press conference, President Barack Obama remarked on his relationship with her as well as her legacy:

Gwen was a friend of ours, she was an extraordinary journalist, she always kept faith with the fundamental responsibilities of her profession, asking tough questions, holding people in power accountable and defending a strong and free press that makes our democracy work.  I always appreciated Gwen's reporting, even when I was on the receiving of one of her tough and thorough interviews.  Whether she reported from a convention floor or the field, whether she sat at the debate moderator's table or at the anchor's desk, she not only informed today's citizens, but she also inspired tomorrow's journalists.

Given all of this information, you can probably understand why a young man like myself from the city where Ifill buttered her bread for decades and who had interned at the Washington Afro-American Newspapers, contributed to my high school newspaper and wrote for and served as co-editor-in-chief of my college newspaper, The Herald, was excited more than most to hear about one of the heroes of my field being our commencement speaker at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in 2001.  In what was a tough transition period from college to the real world filled with closed doors, being either under-qualified because of lack of work experience or over-qualified because of college credentials alone and other failed ventures and opportunities, her speech entitled "Exceed Your Dreams" (of which a transcript is also available here) is still one of the most galvanizing pieces of advice I received before making that transition:

Expectations, the expectations I set for myself, have probably been as tough as the expectations set for me by my parents and teachers.  I got into journalism because I thought on some level I could change the world, that I could shed light in some dark corners.  That I could break down a few barriers.  I've discovered, however, that the world is resistant to change, but shining the light into those dark corners--that can be immensely satisfying.

Hearing those words over 15 years after I accepted my "sheepskin" reminded me of one of my God-given talents: the ability to speak truth to power with my writing because whether it's on paper or online, the writing realm is the one environment in a pessimistic, cynical and dark world where my light has always shined the brightest.  Furthermore, her decorated career simply to that point was proof if a Black woman could break through even tougher ceilings to achieve and exceed her dreams and expectations, then I had no excuses as a Black man to do the same.  My only wish for that day is to have shaken her hand or given her a hug and tell her personally how encouraging her ability to overcome struggle, her dedication to her craft and her incomparable success inspired me to be the best at mine.

Sitting down with friend and NPR special correspondent Michele Norris during "An Evening with Gwen Ifill" on PBS' The HistoryMakers in 2015, Ifill provided the story of her inspiration and told of her own responsibility as a journalist and role model:

When I was a little girl, there was a woman named Melba Tolliver who was on the news and she had a big Afro, and I was just transfixed by this idea.  It didn't make me want to be on television as much as it made me want to tell the story.  Every now and then...I just get caught up in whatever the day's work is and invariably, somebody will come up to me and tell me the story of their little girl.  It always stops me in my tracks because as long as I remember that there's somebody on the other side of the piece of equipment, the camera, who's watching me with expectation and it can shape what they do next, I have to take what I do seriously every single day.

Although her impact is undeniable in terms of how she has inspired young Black girls and women near and far to defy society's expectations to set their own and to exceed their dreams, her irrefutable legacy in print and broadcast journalism is an inspiration to anyone who believes in fairness, tenacity and truth when it comes to telling a wide array of stories to make an indelible imprint on the history of our people, our nation and our world.  Rest in Paradise, Gwen Ifill...

If you were a follower of Gwen Ifill's illustrious career in print and/or broadcast journalism and have any fond memories to share, then please feel free to do so in the comments.