Ernie Suggs (born March 18, 1967) is an American journalist with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who writes about race and culture. He also writes about the Carter Center and former President Jimmy Carter. He oversees AJC Sepia, the newspaper's Black news curation site[1] and the Unapologetically ATL newsletter.[2] He has written about people and history of the civil rights movement and the challenges faced by historically black colleges and universities.

Ernie Suggs
Born (1967-03-18) March 18, 1967 (age 57)
EducationNorth Carolina Central University
OccupationJournalist
EmployerThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Websitehttps://www.ajc.com/staff/ernie-suggs/

Early life and education

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He was born in Brooklyn and raised in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.[1] Suggs graduated in 1985 from Rocky Mount Senior High School. Suggs is a 1990 graduate of North Carolina Central University, with an English Literature degree.[1] He was editor and sports editor of The Campus Echo and a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity[3] In 2009, Suggs was also a Harvard University Nieman Fellow[4]

Journalism career

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Suggs joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1997 and writes about race and culture, as well as a variety of breaking national news and investigative stories.[1] He has been the paper's primary civil rights reporter, covering activists including Coretta Scott King,[5] Joseph E. Lowery,[6] C. T. Vivian,[7] Hosea Williams,[8] and Andrew Young.[9] In 2014, he wrote about the protests in Ferguson, Mo. after the shooting of Michael Brown.[10][11] He also writes about the Carter Center[12] and former President Jimmy Carter.[13] Since 2016, he has managed the AJC's Black History Month project through AJC Sepia,[14] the paper's Black news curation site.[1] He previously reported for Gannett Newspapers in New York City and The Herald-Sun in Durham, North Carolina.[3] In 1996, while at The Herald-Sun, he was awarded a fellowship through the Education Writers Association. As part of the fellowship, in 1997 he published "Fighting to Survive: Historically Black Colleges and Universities Face the 21st Century",[3]" an in-depth examination of HBCUs.

Books

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The Many Lives of Andrew Young. (March 2022) ISBN 978-1-58838-474-4

Other awards and honors

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His 1997 "Fighting to Survive" series won Suggs the Journalist of the Year Award from the American Association of University Professors;[15] First Place, Salute to Excellence Journalism Award for Investigative Reporting from the National Association of Black Journalists; Journalist of the Year from the North Carolina Black Publishers Association; and Journalist of the Year from the North Carolina Press Association.[3] In 2018, Suggs and Eric Stirgus wrote a series about HBCUs for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.[16][17]

Suggs was a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow. He is a member of the Nieman Foundation's Board of Trustees[18] and the former national vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists.[1] He received a Pioneer Black Journalist Award from the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists in 2013.[19][20][3] He has been a judge for the National Headliner Awards.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Ernie Suggs". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  2. ^ "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution launches Unapologetically ATL newsletter". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Ernie Suggs". The History Makers. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Ernie Suggs, NF '09". Nieman Foundation. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "A Place in History: Will she be remembered as 'MLK's widow' or for her work after his death?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  6. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "Remembering the Rev. Joseph Lowery". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  7. ^ Suggs, Ernie; Stafford, Leon. "'We loved Dr. C.T. Vivian'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  8. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "The King Generation is nearly gone; who is stepping up?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  9. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young reunite to teach Sunday school". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  10. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "AJC reporter: 'Never been in anything like this'". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  11. ^ Wells, Kim (24 August 2014). "On the ground in Ferguson: A reporter's view with Ernie Suggs". WCTLFM.com. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  12. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "Carter Center Retreat going virtual". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  13. ^ Suggs, Ernie. "Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter talk about what 75 years of love accomplishes". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  14. ^ "AJC Sepia". Facebook page.
  15. ^ "Ernie Suggs". The History Makers. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  16. ^ Suggs, Ernie; Stirgus, Eric. "HBCUs: A threatened heritage". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  17. ^ Prescott, Virginia. ""On Second Thought" For Wednesday, April 24, 2019". gpb.org. Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Advisory Board". Nieman Foundation. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  19. ^ rtmdion (22 July 2013). "Atlanta Daily World Wins Big at Atlanta Association of Black Journalists Awards". Atlanta Daily World. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Black Men Reporting on Black Men". NABJ Los Angeles.
  21. ^ "Judges - National Headliner Awards". National Headliner Awards. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
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