“The idea that my very person — separate from my abilities — could hamper my success prompted a tiny roar inside me.” - Dorothy Butler Gilliam

At the age of 23, Dorothy Butler Gilliam became the first Black woman hired as a reporter at the Washington Post. It was 1961 and Washington D.C. was a segregated city. Many restaurants did not serve Black customers. When Gilliam tried to hail a cab for interviews, taxis sped past her. Colleagues would refuse to acknowledge her presence outside of the newsroom. A Columbia professor had warned her of the obstacles she would face due to her race and gender saying, “you’ll probably never make it”.

Gilliam’s work covering civil rights in the Deep South put her in great danger. A year into her job she was sent to cover the integration of Ole Miss. There were no hotels for Black people and any attempt to stay at the white’s only hotels would put her life at risk. She spent the night in a funeral home sleeping among the dead.

In spite of these painful obstacles Gilliam went on to work for the Washington Post for 19 years. Gilliam now dedicates her energies toward providing opportunities for future generations of Black journalists as well as mentoring programs for students in underserved schools.

Check out Gilliam’s book Trailblazer: A Pioneering Journalist’s Fight to Make the Media Look More Like America to learn more about this phenomenal woman.

View the complete Affirm Black Women portrait series here