There was a time when the power of print newspapers and the men and women who published and wrote them wielded immense power and influence to shape America's cultural identity and define the nation's zeitgeist.
On Sunday the New York Times reported the passing of W. Horace Carter, an 88 year-old newspaper publisher who demonstrated moral courage and fierce determination in his efforts to confront the spread of the Ku Klux Klan and their violence in his North Carolina community in the 1950's.
Carter was a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist/editor who generously gave back to his alma mater the University of North Carlina at Chapel Hill.
His passing might not make waves in today's mainstream media spotlight, but his contributions to America's cultural evolution and fight against racism will be forever felt. According to Carter's paper the Tabor-Loris Tribune, his Klan campaign resulted in the prosecution of 254 KKK members, 62 of whom were sentenced to prison.
There were many journalists who displayed extraordinary courage to report on the Civil Rights struggle in America at great risk to themselves and their families.
If you're interested in learning more about their heroic efforts, I'm still in the process of reading Hank Robert's and Gene Kilbanoff's Pulitzer Prize winning book The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle and the Awakening of a Nation.
W. Horace Carter's lasting legacy will be his tireless efforts to open the nation's eyes to the realities of prejudice and racism, continuing the fight to bring the freedoms and rights contained in the Declaration of Independence to all Americans.
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