Commentary

COMMENTARY: Saying goodbye to a journalism trailblazer

THE PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE — Lorraine’s legacy is in all those she managed, mentored, guided and taught. A great editor, colleague, teacher and sister-friend is gone, but she has left many others to carry on her work.

Published

5 years ago

April 9, 2019

Staff Writer

By Sharyn L. Flanagan Tribune Magazine Editor

When I found out that Lorraine Branham, dean of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, had died Tuesday after battling cancer, it didn’t just hit me hard because she was a Philadelphia native.

It hit me because Lorraine, a Philadelphia Tribune alumna, brought me down from The North Penn Reporter to Florida, to be on the copy desk at The Tallahassee Democrat. Lorraine was not only the first African-American editor-in-chief but the first female editor-in-chief. She didn’t just break barriers; she smashed them to smithereens.

I can honestly say that Lorraine taught me more than any other executive editor I’ve ever had.

I’ll always remember when I first went into her office for my interview in December 1996, I smiled because seeing her in that position was inspiring. “Us Philly girls have to stick together,” she said, and I beamed even more.

My best memory of her is when she first met my father, who was visiting me from Philadelphia. I took him on a tour of the newsroom and introduced him around. Then Lorraine, who had an open-door policy, asked my father to come in and talk to her. I was a little tense about this prospect because my father didn’t have a filter.

Well, he didn’t disappoint.

He slowly stepped into her office, looked Lorraine up and down a few times and then out came: “Mmm mmm mmm … do you have some great gams on you!” I was mortified! Lorraine laughed, then smiled that gorgeous broad smile of hers and ushered him farther into the office. I think they discussed how things were changing in Philly. But I honestly can’t remember because I was busy cursing out my father in my head.

From that point on, Lorraine always inquired about my father. They were fast friends. Even after I left the newspaper in September 1999, I would see Lorraine at National Association of Black Journalists’ gatherings and she would ask about my dad, always with a smile on her face.

As a trailblazing newsroom leader, Lorraine set the bar high. She always told us “no one is allowed to complain when my door is always open.” And she meant that.

When it was time to make some big changes to increase our circulation, Lorraine went all out. We got rid of the traditional newsroom setup and even the usual titles.

She asked each one of us to write down what one thing we feared most about the impending changes on flash paper and then brought in a guy who held a rising flame for us to throw our doubts and fears up in smoke. The moment moved me.

Lorraine wanted us to change our mindset in a big way. I was rejuvenated and optimistic about what was next.

She also wanted to be sure that people wouldn’t keep on calling the paper “The Tallahassee Dixiecrat.” She was a next-level kind of manager. She had faith in the staff and pushed us to do more.

Lorraine was the first executive editor to ever promote me. I went from copy editor all the way to day coordinator (city editor) in quick fashion. She made me want to learn more, do more and be more.

Lorraine never let my own doubts hold me back — because she had faith in me. She was a true leader and believed in nurturing the next generation. When I asked her to be my mentor, she said, “Sure, but don’t you think it’s time that you mentor someone yourself?” Whoa, what a concept!

And if there were some hard truths along the way, Lorraine was candid about that. When I had decided to lock my hair, she took me in her office and cautioned me that it could affect me professionally. She told me that “hair is political, even if you don’t mean it to be.” Lorraine had put me on the management track and she wanted me to stay there.

Then when I decided to leave The Democrat in 1999 for USA Today, she told me she didn’t agree with my decision because even though it was a bigger operation, it wasn’t a management position. She had helped me get an offer to be an assistant managing editor out West, but I needed to be closer to my family in Philadelphia.

Lorraine’s legacy is in all those she managed, mentored, guided and taught. A great editor, colleague, teacher and sister-friend is gone, but she has left many others to carry on her work.

There will be a viewing from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 11, followed by a funeral service at Sharon Baptist Church, 3955 Conshohocken Ave., Philadelphia. Donations may be made to the Lorraine Branham Scholarship Fund at the Klein College of Media and Communications at Temple University, 2020 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA 19122.

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Tribune.

Staff Writer

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Commentary

Opinion: Surviving the Earthquake, an Eclipse and “Emil Amok.”

Last Friday, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake shook New York City, reported as the “biggest earthquake with an epicenter in the NYC area since 1884” when a 5.2 quake hit. A bit bigger. The last quake similar to Friday’s was a 4.9 in 1783.Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago. That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

In New York City, the eclipse was about 90 percent visible. Good enough for me. Though a full solar eclipse is a celestial rarity, blockages of any sort aren’t generally celebrated. My one-man play is about growing up with the eclipsed history of American Filipinos and how I struggle to unblock all that.

By Emil Guillermo

I’m a Northern Californian in New York City for the next few weeks, doing my one-man show, “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host, Wiley Filipino, Vegan Transdad.”

I must like performing in the wake of Mother Nature.

Alexander Hamilton felt it — 241 years ago.

That’s why New Yorkers were freaking out on Friday. They were in the room where it happens.

And it just doesn’t happen that often.

Beyonce singing country music happens more frequently.

When I felt New York shake last week, it reminded me of a time in a San Francisco TV newsroom when editors fretted about a lack of news an hour before showtime.

Then the office carpeting moved for a good ten seconds, and the news gods gave us our lead story.

On Friday when it happened in NYC, I noticed the lines in the carpeting in my room wiggling. But I thought it was from a raucous hotel worker vacuuming nearby.

I didn’t even think earthquake. In New York?

I just went about my business as if nothing had happened. After living near fault lines all my life, I was taking things for granted.

Considering the age of structures in New York, I should have been even more concerned about falling objects inside (shelves, stuff on walls) and outside buildings (signs, scaffolding), fire hazards from possible gas leaks, and then I should have looked for others on my floor and in the hotel lobby to confirm or aid or tell stories.

Of course, as a Californian who has lived through and covered quakes in the 4 to 6 magnitude range, I tried to calm down any traumatized New Yorker I encountered by taking full responsibility for bringing in the quake from the Bay Area.

I reassured them things would be all right, and then let them know that 4.8s are nothing.

And then I invited them to my consoling post-Earthquake performance of “Emil Amok, Lost NPR Host…”

It was the night of the eclipse.

ECLIPSING THE ECLIPSE

For example, did you know the first Filipinos actually arrived to what is now California in 1587? That’s 33 years before the Pilgrims arrived in America on the other coast, but few know the Filipino history which has been totally eclipsed.

I was in Battery Park sitting on a bench and there was a sense of community as people all came to look up. A young woman sitting next to me had a filter for a cell phone camera. We began talking and she let me use it. That filter enabled me to take a picture of the main event with my iPhone.

For helping me see, I invited her and her boyfriend to come see my show.

Coincidentally, she was from Plymouth, Massachusetts, near the rock that says the year the Pilgrims landed in 1620.

In my show she learned the truth. The Pilgrims were second.

History unblocked. But it took a solar eclipse.

Next one in 2044? We have a lot more unblocking to do.

If you’re in New York come see my show, Sat. April 13th, 5:20 pm Eastern; Fri. April 19, 8:10 pm Eastern; and Sun. April 21st 5:20 pm Eastern.

You can also livestream the show. Get tickets at www.amok.com/tickets

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1. He wishes all his readers a Happy Easter!

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Commentary

Commentary: Republican Votes Are Threatening American Democracy

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We needed to know the blunt truth. The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

Published

1 week ago

April 16, 2024

Oakland Post

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening. That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

By Emil Guillermo

In many ways, it was great that the Iowa Caucuses were on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

We needed to know the blunt truth.

The takeaway message after the Iowa Caucuses where Donald Trump finished more than 30 points in front of Florida Gov. De Santis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley boils down to this: Our democracy is threatened, for real.

And to save it will require all hands on deck.

It was strange for Iowans to caucus on MLK day. It had a self-cancelling effect. The day that honored America’s civil rights and anti-discrimination hero was negated by evening.

That’s when one of the least diverse states in the nation let the world know that white Americans absolutely love Donald Trump. No ifs, ands or buts.

No man is above the law? To the majority of his supporters, it seems Trump is.

It’s an anti-democracy loyalty that has spread like a political virus.

No matter what he does, Trump’s their guy. Trump received 51% of caucus-goers votes to beat Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who garnered 21.2%, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who got 19.1%.

The Asian flash in the pan Vivek Ramaswamy finished way behind and dropped out. Perhaps to get in the VP line. Don’t count on it.

According to CNN’s entrance polls, when caucus-goers were asked if they were a part of the “MAGA movement,” nearly half — 46% — said yes. More revealing: “Do you think Biden legitimately won in 2020?”

Only 29% said “yes.”

That means an overwhelming 66% said “no,” thus showing the deep roots in Iowa of the “Big Lie,” the belief in a falsehood that Trump was a victim of election theft.

Even more revealing and posing a direct threat to our democracy was the question of whether Trump was fit for the presidency, even if convicted of a crime.

Sixty-five percent said “yes.”

Who says that about anyone of color indicted on 91 criminal felony counts?

Would a BIPOC executive found liable for business fraud in civil court be given a pass?

How about a BIPOC person found liable for sexual assault?

Iowans have debased the phrase, “no man is above the law.” It’s a mindset that would vote in an American dictatorship.

Compare Iowa with voters in Asia last weekend. Taiwan rejected threats from authoritarian Beijing and elected pro-democracy Taiwanese vice president Lai Ching-te as its new president.

Meanwhile, in our country, which supposedly knows a thing or two about democracy, the Iowa caucuses show how Americans feel about authoritarianism.

Some Americans actually like it even more than the Constitution allows.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. He does a mini-talk show on YouTube.com/@emilamok1.