Tony Brown, “Television’s Civil Rights Crusader,” as Black Enterprise magazine designated him, is a broadcast journalism legend, producer and host of “Tony Brown’s Journal,” the longest-running national Black-affairs TV series in history. He was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) 2015-2016 Hall of Fame on August 5, 2016.
He is also the university dean emeritus and professor of the prestigious Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University and he was the first and founding dean, as well as professor, of the School of Communications at Howard University, where he established a highly distinguished academic and professional record. In 2012, Dean Brown was inducted into the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications Hall of Fame at Hampton University.
His first media position was as a columnist with the Detroit edition of the venerable national Pittsburgh Courier newspaper chain, a foundation cornerstone of the Black Press, as a reporter and columnist in the early 1960s.
In the area of civil rights, Tony Brown coordinated the largest civil rights march in U. S. history on June 23, 1963 in Detroit, MI. It was led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and drew a record-setting 500,000 people. This was the first time that Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have A Dream” speech and 66 days before he delivered the same stirring speech in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963.
This widely recognized out-of-the-box thinker was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' prestigious Silver Circle in 2002. With this honor, he joined other television icons such as Walter Cronkite who "have made enduring contributions to the vitality of the television industry and set the highest standards of achievement for all to emulate." In 1985, Tony Brown received the NAACP Image Special Award and in 1991, he received a Black Emmy Award for "distinguished and outstanding achievement on behalf of African-Americans in the television industry." This historically distinguished journalist and best-selling author is currently working on his fourth and, probably, final book.
To this day, a robust and healthy Tony Brown continues his ground-breaking journalism with his rare collection of nearly 1,000 iconic TV programs from his 40-year award-winning national television series, which is available at www.TonyBrownsJournal.com. Included in this historical collection is one feature movie, "The White Girl," that he produced, financed and directed as an independent feature film.
"As a university dean emeritus of a journalism school, I consider viewing and studying the content of this historic collection to be the equivalent of an academic Ph. D. degree in Black History and Black Affairs," Brown said.
Tony Brown was born in Charleston, West Virginia, where he graduated from Garnet High School. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and his Master’s degree in Psychiatric Social Work at Wayne State University in Detroit. Brown is an active advocate of market solutions to social problems with self-empowerment principles.
His motto is “Self Help.” His call to action is very explicit: “No Black Lies, No White Lies — Only The Truth!”
