Uploaded November 2024 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
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Eric's Perspective | Episode #50 feat. Charlayne Hunter-Gault
For more, visit ericsperspective.com
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In this episode, Eric sits down with civil rights activist and award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault. They discuss her childhood - from being born in South Carolina during segregation, moving frequently as her father was an army chaplain but spending most of her time in Atlanta. Her early education and the values that were instilled in her at a young age that lent to inspiring her to have high aspirations, self-belief and providing “armor” to shield her throughout her life… and how she gravitated to and was inspired to become a journalist.
They discuss the Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, how Hunter, along with Hamilton Holmes were the two students selected by a committee to integrate white universities in Atlanta… A successful legal challenge that culminated in her admission to the University of Georgia in January 1961—making her one of the first two Black students to integrate the institution.
Her illustrious career in journalism, from beginning at the New Yorker magazine, to joining The New York Times as a metropolitan reporter specializing in coverage of the urban black community, becoming a foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN and the Public Broadcasting… She reflects on covering Apartheid in South Africa and interviewing nelson Nelson Mandela! To eventually authoring five books — her most recent one being “My People: Five Decades of Writing about Black Lives”.
Her passion for writing about Black Lives and History in a way that shows the full, honest picture and her mission of creating a coalition across generations, in order to preserve and honor the path that was paved by her ancestors… and continue to work together, to strive toward a more perfect union in the United States of America...!
Guest Bio: Award-winning journalist, author, and school desegregation pioneer Charlayne Hunter-Gault was born on February 27, 1942, in Due West, South Carolina.
In 1961, Hunter became the first African American woman to enroll in the University of Georgia; she was also among the first African American women to graduate from the university, earning a degree in journalism in 1963.
After completing college, Hunter moved to New York City, where she worked for The New Yorker magazine in an administrative job and contributed pieces to the “Talk of the Town” section. Many of her articles expressed rich and realistic portrayals of life in Harlem. She next joined The New York Times as a staff reporter eventually becoming the newspaper’s Harlem bureau chief. In addition to winning numerous awards for her coverage of inner-city issues, she brought about a significant change in The Times’s editorial policy, eventually convincing the editors to drop their use of the word Negroes when referring to African Americans.
Hunter-Gault gained a national audience after she joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) news program MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1978. When the program grew into the 60-minute MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1983, she became its national correspondent and reported on topics that included racism, Vietnam veterans, life under apartheid, drug abuse, and human rights issues. In 1997 Hunter-Gault became the Africa bureau chief for National Public Radio (NPR), and in 1999 she was named Johannesburg bureau chief for the Cable News Network (CNN), a post she held until 2005. She published a memoir, In My Place (1992), and New News Out of Africa (2006), a book documenting positive developments in Africa. In 2005 Hunter-Gault was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame.
Winner of two Emmys and a Peabody for excellence in broadcast journalism for her work on Apartheid's People, a NewsHour series on South Africa. She also received the 1986 Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, a Candace Award for Journalism from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1988, the 1990 Sidney Hillman Award, the Good Housekeeping Broadcast Personality of the Year Award, the Women in Radio and Television Award and two awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for excellence in local programming. The University of Georgia Academic Building is named for her, along with Hamilton Holmes, as it is called the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building, as of 2001. She has been a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors since 2009 and serves on the Board of Trustees at the Carter Center.
Tune in to the full episode!
Eric's Perspective | Episode #50 feat. Charlayne Hunter-Gault
For more, visit ericsperspective.com
LISTEN ON:
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2B6wB3U
Spotify: spoti.fi/3j6QRmW
Audible: adbl.co/313SgGp
iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/2KtYGXv
Luminary: bit.ly/3Lw9aBw
Pandora: pdora.co/38pFWAm
Connect with us:
Facebook: bit.ly/3jq5fXP
Instagram: bit.ly/39jFZxG
X: bit.ly/2OMRx33
TikTok: bit.ly/4cv8zfg
In this episode, Eric sits down with civil rights activist and award-winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault. They discuss her childhood - from being born in South Carolina during segregation, moving frequently as her father was an army chaplain but spending most of her time in Atlanta. Her early education and the values that were instilled in her at a young age that lent to inspiring her to have high aspirations, self-belief and providing “armor” to shield her throughout her life… and how she gravitated to and was inspired to become a journalist.
They discuss the Brown v. Board of Education landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, how Hunter, along with Hamilton Holmes were the two students selected by a committee to integrate white universities in Atlanta… A successful legal challenge that culminated in her admission to the University of Georgia in January 1961—making her one of the first two Black students to integrate the institution.
Her illustrious career in journalism, from beginning at the New Yorker magazine, to joining The New York Times as a metropolitan reporter specializing in coverage of the urban black community, becoming a foreign correspondent for National Public Radio, CNN and the Public Broadcasting… She reflects on covering Apartheid in South Africa and interviewing nelson Nelson Mandela! To eventually authoring five books — her most recent one being “My People: Five Decades of Writing about Black Lives”.
Her passion for writing about Black Lives and History in a way that shows the full, honest picture and her mission of creating a coalition across generations, in order to preserve and honor the path that was paved by her ancestors… and continue to work together, to strive toward a more perfect union in the United States of America...!
Guest Bio: Award-winning journalist, author, and school desegregation pioneer Charlayne Hunter-Gault was born on February 27, 1942, in Due West, South Carolina.
In 1961, Hunter became the first African American woman to enroll in the University of Georgia; she was also among the first African American women to graduate from the university, earning a degree in journalism in 1963.
After completing college, Hunter moved to New York City, where she worked for The New Yorker magazine in an administrative job and contributed pieces to the “Talk of the Town” section. Many of her articles expressed rich and realistic portrayals of life in Harlem. She next joined The New York Times as a staff reporter eventually becoming the newspaper’s Harlem bureau chief. In addition to winning numerous awards for her coverage of inner-city issues, she brought about a significant change in The Times’s editorial policy, eventually convincing the editors to drop their use of the word Negroes when referring to African Americans.
Hunter-Gault gained a national audience after she joined the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) news program MacNeil/Lehrer Report in 1978. When the program grew into the 60-minute MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in 1983, she became its national correspondent and reported on topics that included racism, Vietnam veterans, life under apartheid, drug abuse, and human rights issues. In 1997 Hunter-Gault became the Africa bureau chief for National Public Radio (NPR), and in 1999 she was named Johannesburg bureau chief for the Cable News Network (CNN), a post she held until 2005. She published a memoir, In My Place (1992), and New News Out of Africa (2006), a book documenting positive developments in Africa. In 2005 Hunter-Gault was inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Hall of Fame.
Winner of two Emmys and a Peabody for excellence in broadcast journalism for her work on Apartheid's People, a NewsHour series on South Africa. She also received the 1986 Journalist of the Year Award from the National Association of Black Journalists, a Candace Award for Journalism from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women in 1988, the 1990 Sidney Hillman Award, the Good Housekeeping Broadcast Personality of the Year Award, the Women in Radio and Television Award and two awards from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for excellence in local programming. The University of Georgia Academic Building is named for her, along with Hamilton Holmes, as it is called the Holmes/Hunter Academic Building, as of 2001. She has been a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors since 2009 and serves on the Board of Trustees at the Carter Center.
