Academy award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, who received her Oscar for her role as 'Mammy' in 'Gone With the Wind,' is shown in an undated photo.
This image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows the stamp for movie actress Hattie McDaniel. McDaniel, the first black actress to win an Academy Award, was honored in 2006 with a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp. McDaniel was the 29th person honored in the Postal Service's long-running Black Heritage stamp series.
When I moved into my role as the Chronicle's news columnist in December, there was much ado made about me being the first Black person to hold the position in the newspaper's 122-year history.
The news traveled quickly, making it to national sites, like Yahoo News, The Grio, and social media feeds. Most readers congratulated me, though some balked at the accomplishment because it's taken 122 years. Even esteemed national journalists who I admire said they refused to celebrate "a first Black anything" in 2024.
Civil-rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of George Floyd after his murder in 2020, shared my news on his Instagram page. I had covered Floyd's funeral in Houston and, soon after, transitioned to covering issues about culture, family and race.
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After more the 25 years in the industry, I find being the "first" peculiar. I'm immensely proud of my career as a journalist, but there are so many "firsts" who have paved the way for me with broken glass ceilings and kicked-in doors.
I think of what Ethel Payne must have endured as a journalist and civil-rights activist who was the first Black woman included in the White House Press Corps. Ida B. Wells, another journalist and rights activist, fought for anti-lynching legislation a century before the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Law was signed in 2022.
Others, like Hattie McDaniel, I'm only now learning about. Yes, the "Gone with the Wind" actress who was the first Black person to win an Oscar in 1940 for playing the role of a servant. She famously told critics, "I would rather make $700 a week playing a maid than earn $7 a day being one."
Houston author and journalist ReShonda Tate has spent the last three years researching McDaniel's life for a new historical fiction novel, "The Queen of Sugar Hill," which was released last week. Tate has written more than 50 books, and this is her first historical novel.
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"Hattie was a quiet change agent who had to fight everyone," Tate said. "So often we hear about the loud and proud civil rights activists who are very vocal on their journey. She was quiet with her activism, but never got the respect."
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After the Oscar win, McDaniel would never work again, despised by her own people because of the stereotypical servant role she played while also being shunned by white people who saw her as a servant. Yet, she would go on to be instrumental in desegregating Los Angeles' wealthy West Adams Heights neighborhood, fighting against the restrictive housing covenants that only allowed white people to buy and sell property.
"The blessing of being the first, like for Hattie, was that she was in the room on the set of 'Gone with the Wind,' and recognized for her talent," Tate said.
"The burden is that you expect things to change. It didn't change for her. It didn't lead to better roles. She wanted to play more powerful roles and show that Black people could be well rounded. That's the burden — you really expect all of these things to change and these other doors to open, but you're still dealing with the reality of the world."
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In 2024, being the first of anything is a mixed bag. I could get lost in the muck of why it may have taken this long, but I don't really have time for that.
I have stories to tell, and, hopefully, when I'm long gone, my children may run across my name online (if that's still a thing) and see that I made a small mark on the world.
I hope that makes them proud.
Sewing: New role carries blessings, burdens of being a ‘first’
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05.02.2024
Academy award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, who received her Oscar for her role as 'Mammy' in 'Gone With the Wind,' is shown in an undated photo.
This image provided by the U.S. Postal Service shows the stamp for movie actress Hattie McDaniel. McDaniel, the first black actress to win an Academy Award, was honored in 2006 with a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp. McDaniel was the 29th person honored in the Postal Service's long-running Black Heritage stamp series.
When I moved into my role as the Chronicle's news columnist in December, there was much ado made about me being the first Black person to hold the position in the newspaper's 122-year history.
The news traveled quickly, making it to national sites, like Yahoo News, The Grio, and social media feeds. Most readers congratulated me, though some balked at the accomplishment because it's taken 122 years. Even esteemed national journalists who I admire said they refused to celebrate "a first Black anything" in 2024.
Civil-rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represented the family of George........
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