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BLACK JOURNALISTS TO HONOR 3 ROCHESTER LEGENDS

The Rochester Association of Black Journalists will publicly kickoff its unique documentary and children's book series project, "Rochester Legends," at a social fundraising event from 6 to 9 p.m. on April 1 at the Rochester Academy of Medicine.
Three living Rochester African-American notables - Constance Mitchell, Dr. Walter Cooper and Dr. David Anderson - will be honored at the event and a video documentary profile on each of them will be shown.

The trio also will be the subjects of the first volume of a planned Rochester Legends series of illustrated children's books, geared to third grade level, about outstanding people who have made invaluable contributions to the Rochester community.

That inaugural book is slated to be published in September for distribution to libraries and public, private and parochial elementary schools throughout Monroe and surrounding counties.

Mitchell, a civil rights activist, became the highest elected African American official in the nation when she won a seat on the Monroe County Supervisors (forerunner of the Monroe County Legislature) in 1961.

Cooper, a research scientist and educator, helped found the Urban League of Rochester and Action for a Better Community.

Anderson is a founding member of the Black Storytelling League of Rochester and Akwaaba: The Heritage Associates, an organization whose members share and reenact African American history.

"The goal of the Rochester Legends children's book series is two-fold: to encourage children to read and to introduce them to important people who live in the area," said Richard McCollough, RABJ president and producer of the Rochester Legends project. McCollough holds a Master's Degree in Education and owns Mirusmedia, a television and video production company.

Elaborating further on the significance of the book series, Joanne Gordon, chairperson of the April event, said, "We hope that allowing students, as they are learning to read, to read about local heroes doing positive things in their community will have a profound effect for generations to come." Gordon is RABJ Vice President of Broadcast and Senior Editor at WXXI Public Broadcasting Council.

Proceeds from the Rochester Legends event will go to support the book-documentary project as well as RABJ's Wyoma Best Scholarship for Future Journalists Fund, named for a local pioneering African-American television journalist, and other activities of the organization.

"We feel it is important that RABJ, as a journalistic advocacy organization, be at the forefront and continue to inform and educate the public just as our ultimate mentor Frederick Douglass did when he published the "North Star" more than a century ago in downtown Rochester, said RABJ secretary Rhonda Austin, explaining why the organization has undertaken the Rochester Legends project. Austin is Radio Operations Manager at WXXI Public Broadcasting Council.

Tickets for the April fundraiser are $50 per person which includes food and a wine and beer open bar. To purchase tickets contact: [email protected] or Richard McCollough at 585-442-3728.

The Rochester Association of Black Journalists is an organization of journalists, students and media-related professionals of color. One of its primary missions is to press for diversity in newsrooms and advocate on behalf of black journalists. RABJ is a chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, an organization of more than 4,000 members.

by Award Winning Producer/Director/Videographer Richard J. McCollough, M.Ed.
Associate Producer Joanne Gordon