The Power of Her Pen

It would have been near-impossible to predict that a Chicago South Side girl, the granddaughter of slaves, would end up firing pointed questions at U.S. presidents, serving as a critical information conduit for Black newspaper readership, and opening doors for Black and female journalists. Ethel Payne followed her passion for writing and storytelling from her high school English classes, into her job as a social director at a military base in post–World War II Japan, and onto a permanent position with the venerable African-American newspaper the Chicago Defender. There her coveted White House press pass put her face to face with chief executives, many of whom found themselves cornered by her questions about civil rights policies (“Ethel wrote the stories that the mainstream media refused to. It was her questions to presidents that finally made readers of all races pay attention to the plight of African Americans”). Parra’s stylized acrylic paintings place figures with the knife-edged crispness of paper collage against the textured surfaces of illustration board, and intersperse well-placed vignettes that suggest the length and breadth of Payne’s long career. This is a solid treatment of an important but little-known figure, and it may prompt kids to think about the role and composition of a free press. An author’s note expands information, and source credits, a brief adult bibliography, and a list for further reading are included.  EB