L. Alex Wilson (1909–1960) was an American journalist and editor who rose to prominence during the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

. He covered the

Emmett Till Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941August 28, 1955) was a 14-year-old African American boy who was abducted, tortured, and lynched in Mississippi in 1955, after being accused of offending a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in her family's grocery ...

murder for the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

oriented, ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' chain, while serving as the editor of the Memphis-based ''

Tri-State Defender The ''Tri-State Defender'' is a weekly African-American newspaper serving Memphis, Tennessee, and the nearby areas of Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. It bills itself as "The Mid-South's Best Alternative Newspaper". The ''Defender'' was fou ...

''. In 1957, Wilson was covering the

Little Rock Nine The Little Rock Nine were a group of nine African American students enrolled in Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Their enrollment was followed by the Little Rock Crisis, in which the students were initially prevented from entering ...

school desegregation crises when a white mob beat and injured him. He recovered, and continued as an editor in Chicago, but the wounds he received in Little Rock likely shortened his life.

Biography

Lucious Alexander Wilson was the editor and general manager of the ''

'', an

African-American newspaper African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are newspaper, news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-Americ ...

published in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. The ''Tri-State'' was then part of the influential ''

'' chain. In 1955, Wilson led the ''Defender''-chain's coverage of the

lynching, a catalyst for the civil rights movement. One of the people he hired at the ''Tri-State Defender'' was Dorothy Butler Gilliam. Wilson gained national attention when television images of him being beaten by a White mob were broadcast during his coverage of the

finally entering

Little Rock Central High School Little Rock Central High School (LRCHS) is an accredited comprehensive education, comprehensive public high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Secondary education in the United States, United States. The school was the Littl ...

on September 23, 1957. Wilson, a highly visible presence at 6'3", followed the black students to the school building until members of the racist mob started to attack him. He decided to walk, not run, away. After having been confronted by members of the KKK when he was younger and fleeing, he decided he would never run from racism ever again. A member of the mob hopped on his back and started choking him, and another one hit him in the head with a brick. After the events in Little Rock, Wilson became editor of ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'', but he died young, in 1960 (at the age of 51), possibly from the effects of the beatings he endured.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, L. Alex 1960 deaths African-American journalists 1909 births Little Rock Nine

Biography

Further reading

References