William Worthy
William Worthy | |
---|---|
Boston, Massachusetts, US | |
Died | May 4, 2014 Brewster, Massachusetts, US | (aged 92)
Education | Bates College |
Occupation | Journalist |
William Worthy, Jr. (July 7, 1921 – May 4, 2014) was an
Biography
Early life
Worthy was born in
During World War II, Worthy was sentenced to one day in prison for dodging a physical examination for military service and failing to register at a conscientious objector's camp. In 1954, he voiced early opposition to American involvement in Vietnam after he visited Indo-China in 1953.
Right to travel controversies
In 1955, Worthy spent six weeks in Moscow, interviewing
Without a passport, Worthy traveled to Cuba in the early days of
The Committee for the Freedom of William Worthy was formed in 1962 and was chaired by A. Philip Randolph and Bishop D. Ward Nichols. In a telegram to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Randolph, James Farmer and James Forman noted that "white citizens who have come home without passports have never been prosecuted."[6] Folksinger Phil Ochs wrote a song called "The Ballad of William Worthy" about Worthy's trip to Cuba and its consequences.
Worthy continued to travel to North Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia and Iran. He only received a passport again in 1968.[2] In 1981, the luggage of Worthy and two other journalists working with him, Terri Taylor and Randy Goodman, containing paperback copies of classified CIA documents, was seized by the FBI on their return from Iran. They subsequently won a suit on Fourth Amendment grounds and were awarded $16,000 in damages.[8]
Civil rights activist
Worthy was a
In 1947, he participated in the Journey of Reconciliation together with other prominent civil rights leaders, in which they challenged state segregation laws on public transport. The action inspired the later Freedom Riders.[6]
In the early 1960s he was an outspoken critic of the civil rights movement for not going far enough to achieve civil rights in housing and all areas of American life. William Worthy was one of the most important political allies of
Worthy was a reporter for the
Teaching
While Worthy continued to work in the field of journalism; in the 1970s, he was appointed as head of the African American journalism program at
On February 22, 2008, the
Death and legacy
Worthy died in Brewster, Massachusetts on May 4, 2014, at the age of 92, of Alzheimer's disease.[11]
The late psychologist
Works
- Our Disgrace in Indo-China. 1954.
- The Silent Slaughter: The Role Of The United States In The Indonesian Massacre. With Eric Norden, Andrew March, and Mark Lane. 1967.
- The Vanguard: A photographic essay on the Black Panthers. With Ruth-Marion Baruch and Parkle Jones. 1970.
- The Rape of Our Neighborhoods: And How Communities Are Resisting Take-Overs by Colleges, Hospitals, Churches, Businesses, and Public Agencies. 1976.
- Pampered Dictators and Neglected Cities: The Philippine Connection. 1978.
Further reading
- Robeson Taj Frazier, The East is Black: Cold War China in the Black Radical Imagination. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2015.
External links
- "'The Most Important Journalist You've Never Heard Of': Remembering William Worthy (1921-2014)", Democracy Now!, May 19, 2014.
- biographical notes
- Ochs' song
- Harvard Crimson 1957 biographical notes
- Harvard Crimson April 28, 1977 article on Worthy
- February 22, 2008 Boston Globe column
References
- ^ Directory, Foreign Area Fellows - Volume 3. Foreign Area Fellowship Program. 1973. p. 14.
- ^ a b "A Man Worth Heeding", The Harvard Crimson, April 28, 1977, archived from the original on March 3, 2016, retrieved August 20, 2020
- ^ Fox, Margalit (May 17, 2014). "William Worthy, a Reporter Drawn to Forbidden Datelines, Dies at 92". the New York Times. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ "The Press: Ban Broken", Time, January 7, 1957.
- Washington Afro-American. Retrieved December 31, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Cold War Stories: William Worthy, the Right to Travel, and Afro-American Reporting on the Cuban Revolution" (PDF). Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ Kunstler, William M., My Life As A Radical Lawyer, pp. 95–97 (Birch Lane Press 1994).
- ^ McKibben, William E. (January 20, 1982). "3 Journalists To Sue FBI On Confiscation". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Worthy, William (March 8, 1969). "Militants being killed, jailed or forced to run". Afro-American (1893-1988). Baltimore, Md. p. 1.
- ^ Walker, Adrian (February 22, 2008). "Reclaiming a gallant voice - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
- ^ Langer, Emily (May 12, 2014). "William Worthy, defiant journalist, dies at 92". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 13, 2014.