The death of Tony Brown, host and Exectuive Producer of Tony Brown's Journal leaves a collective void. Brown's Journal was one of the longest running series in the history of the PBS channel.The program aired from 1977-2008. Brown died at the age of 93 at his home in NewPort News, Virginia.
Tony Brown was born in Charleston, West Virginia. He served in the U.S. military from 1953 to 1955. Brown earned a Bachelor's degree in sociology and psychology and later a Master's degree in Psychriatic Social Work from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.
After graduate school, Brown's interests quickly turned to journalism. He worked at WVTS, which was Detroit's public television station. While there he produced the first program aimed at a Black audience Colored People's Time. He also produced Free Play, another community based and focused show.
Brown as also very active in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. He organized a large march in Detroit in 1963. The march featured Martin Luther King and by some estimates the crowd reached 500,000. USA Today selected Brown as among the top five leaders to analyze the state of Black America.
In 1970, Brown launched the precursor of Tony Brown's Journal. The show was called Black Journal. Brown was named executive producer and it was a New York based public television program. It featured commentary, documentaries and public opinion segments. The show was controversial and shortlived. In 1973, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting withdrew funding for the show.
As a result of his visibility and popularity on Black Journal, Brown was able to secure a sponsorship agreement with Coca-Cola company and relaunch the program as Tony Brown's Journal. The show was syndicated for 40 years and was Emmy-nominated. It was also rated by A.C. Nielsen Company as "the number 1 rated Syndicated Talk/Educational National TV Series. Brown interviewed as wide range of pesonalities in the Black community. He was no stranger to controversy and welcomed guests whose views often challeged the status quo about African Americans and American race relations.
In addition to television, Brown was active in academia. He taught at Central Washington University, University of District of Columbia, Hampton and Howard University. He established the School of Journalism at Hampton University (2004-2009). He also established the journalism school at Howard University. He served as its dean until 1974.
Brown also established College Day in 1980. This annual observance was designed to highlight the importance of HBCUs. He also founded the Council for the Economic Development of Black Americans. Their "Buy Freedom" campaign urged support for Black businesses. He also created the concept of Freedom Dollars.
Brown was also an author. His books include Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown (1995); Empower the People: A 7-Step Plan to Overhrow the Conspiracy That is Stealing Your Money and Freedom (1998) and What Mama Taught Me: The Seven Core Values of Life (2003). He also created a massie archive www.TonyBrownsJournal.com. The site contains interviews, documentaries, and commentary from the 40 year span of Tony Brown's Journal.
Nationally and internationally recognized, Tony Brown was a true journalistic pioneer. In our contemporary moment, marked by misinformation and disinformation, Brown offers a much neeeded corrective. His work demonstrates the importance of critical, engaged and thoughtful commentary on Black life, culture, economics and politics. He drew on the broadest specturm of Black intellectual thinking to truly understand the dynamism and complexity of our community. He will be sorely missed.
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