Milwaukee journalists earn NABJ awards at Chicago conference

Staff
| Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel journalists were recently honored for their work by the National Association of Black Journalists at the organization’s annual conference in Chicago.

James E. Causey won two Salute to Excellence first-place awards for column writing. Tamia Fowlkes was a finalist for a series of stories about a Milwaukee apartment complex that had improperly threatened to evict a 98-year-old tenant.

“Each of these pieces echoes some of the things we talk about every day in our newsroom — the need to be essential to our readers and to be connected to our community,” said Greg Borowski, executive editor. “James, a Milwaukee native, always writes from the heart — and with heart. And Tamia’s work is fueled by a deep passion to help people and make Milwaukee a better place.

“That’s a mission for all of us at the Journal Sentinel and we’re thrilled to have this work recognized.”

Causey was recognized in the commentary category for a series of columns about race in America, including the case of Ralph Yarl, a Kansas City teen who was shot for simply knocking on the wrong door, prompting Causey to reflect on “the talk” his dad , like scores of other fathers, gave to him as a boy about being a Black man in this country.

In another column, Causey digs into the origins of a TV ad in heavy rotation last fall about critical race theory, concluding, “The truth is the ad, and its entire premise, is a lie. Not just a cute, little white lie, but soon makes lie.” Finally, Causey confronts the racism he has encountered throughout his career as a journalist.

Read James E. Causey’s prize winning columns

We are all prey: As long as Congress refuses to act, Black boys like Ralph Yarl will suffer

About that TV ad: Critical race theory ad with young Black father, daughter isn’t what it claims

I’m worn from years of racial slurs. But I’ll no longer be silent about bigotry.

“I’ve long kept the scale of the racist hatred I receive to myself, often not telling my editors about it. But I have come to realize how corrosive that is,” he wrote. “I have become weathered and worn. I am tired. I hesitate to even write that because it could mean the racists are getting what they want. They’re not. But we can’t put an end to something if we don’t call it out.”

Causey also won a first-place award for health writing for a column exploring the links between chronic health conditions for Black Americans and slavery, sharing the story of Milwaukee historian and advocate Reggie Jackson’s stroke.

Read the column: What the three-fifths clause tells us about strokes and other health disparities for Black Americans

Fowlkes, a reporter on the Journal Sentinel’s Public Investigator team, was recognized for her stories on an Milwaukee apartment complex that threatened to evict a tenant, a 98-year-old woman battling sleep apnea, heart issues and breathing problems, for not paying her rent even though they had cashed her most recent payment.

Following her reporting that the eviction notice the tenant received was “unusual” and “improper,” the owner of the apartment complex apologized for issuing the eviction notice. “We screwed up,” the owner of the Sycamore Place apartments admitted.

Read Tamia Fowlkes’ Public Investigator stories

Legal experts say it was improper: An apartment complex threatened a 98-year-old tenant with eviction.

‘We screwed up:’ Sycamore Place apologizes for issuing wrongful eviction notice to 98-year-old

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Milwaukee journalists earn NABJ awards at Chicago conference

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