Veteran journalist Charles Sumner “Chuck” Stone Jr., one of the founding forces behind the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), died Sunday at age 89.
Stone was an outspoken force in furthering the 60′s Civil Rights movement during the Kennedy Administration by using his journalism skills to tackle subjects significant to Blacks in America. He served as an editor and writer at influential black publications in New York, Washington and Chicago, including the Washington Afro-American and Chicago Daily Defender.
Stone was hired as the first Black journalist at the Philadelphia Daily News after serving in the military as a Tuskegee Airman in World War II. Colleagues from the paper, where Stone worked for two decades, say he didn’t allow the tough topics of discrimination, police brutality, and racism facing Blacks deter his spirit.
“He was one of those people who makes you feel good just to bump into him when you came into the office because he was so happy where he was and doing what he did,” columnist Peter Dexter said.
Stone was influential in launching the NABJ at a time when being a member was not easy, said Bob Butler, current president of the association. He served as the org’s first president in a difficult political climate where “some employers back then told members to choose between their jobs and NABJ,” Butler said.
He passed on his experience and knowledge through his career in education. He taught journalism at the University at Delaware and lectured at Bryn Mawr College’s Graduate School of Social Work and Research. He retired from his post as a journalism professor teaching censorship and magazine writing at the University of North Carolina in 2005. In addition, he authored two nonfiction books “Tell It Like It Is” and “Back Political Power in America,” and a novel, “King Strut.”
Stone is survived by children Krishna Stone, Allegra Stone and Charles S. Stone III; grandchild Parade Stone; and sisters Madalene Seymour and Irene Gordy.