Awards & Recognitions
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Winner: “The Black press democratized America” by Nicole Carr in The Emancipator
Carr weaves together compelling storytelling with historical insight, showing how the Black press has long served as a vital force for truth and democracy. The article’s voice is both personal and urgent, drawing readers in with vivid classroom moments and guiding them through the often-overlooked legacy of Black journalists who challenged injustice and shaped the national narrative. Carr delivers a tour de force that traces an unbroken line from Freedom’s Journal in 1827 to today’s media crisis following the 2024 election. She makes a persuasive case for why honest, courageous reporting — rooted in lived experience rather than false neutrality — remains essential today. This piece not only informs but inspires, reminding us of the press’s responsibility to confront uncomfortable truths and advocate for a more just society.
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Nicole Carr
ProPublica, New York, NY
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Nicole Carr | Pro Publica | June 16, 2022 | 7,200 words
This was the scariest story I read all week. Cecilia Lewis was hired in 2021 by the Cherokee County School District in Georgia to be its first-ever administrator focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. But she hadn’t started the job — indeed, she hadn’t even moved down South from her longtime home in Maryland — before a mob of white parents decided she had to go. They sent her racist messages, spread lies about her, and screamed at school board meetings to get their way. And when Lewis took a different job, one county over, they didn’t stop. Nicole Carr’s feature is a searing reminder of just how vicious the right-wing war on progressive education in America has become, and a revealing look at the kind of people — white parents, riding a wave of national bigotry — who are leading troops into battle. —SD
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Nicole Carr of ProPublica wins the July Sidney Award for “White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One,” a deeply reported story about Cecelia Lewis, a distinguished Black educator who was harassed, threatened, and surveilled after accepting a job to help a Georgia school district combat educational disparities.
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“This story got to the uncomfortable, messy truth beyond the headlines and how it impacts the lives of real human beings who can’t escape online mobs and disinformation. The reporter did a fine weaving of an absolutely memorizing narrative that brought readers along and kept them reading for the length of the story. One of the best education stories of the entire year.”
“This story put a personal face on the anti-CRT efforts that helped unpack the intentions of educators who value inclusion and cultural sensitivity. I could feel (a small part) the lack of safety the story’s subject felt and the vitriol of those opposed to CRT really came through. I appreciated how this story wasn’t bogged down with national political tropes. This personal story really did the talking and provided an intimate account of how lies and misinformation about CRT are having real-world consequences.”
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Item description
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Winner: “The Black press democratized America” by Nicole Carr in The Emancipator
Carr weaves together compelling storytelling with historical insight, showing how the Black press has long served as a vital force for truth and democracy. The article’s voice is both personal and urgent, drawing readers in with vivid classroom moments and guiding them through the often-overlooked legacy of Black journalists who challenged injustice and shaped the national narrative. Carr delivers a tour de force that traces an unbroken line from Freedom’s Journal in 1827 to today’s media crisis following the 2024 election. She makes a persuasive case for why honest, courageous reporting — rooted in lived experience rather than false neutrality — remains essential today. This piece not only informs but inspires, reminding us of the press’s responsibility to confront uncomfortable truths and advocate for a more just society.