William Worthy
Encyclopedia
William Worthy, Jr. is an African-American journalist
, civil rights activist, and dissident who pressed his right to travel regardless of U.S. State Department regulations.
, Lewiston, Maine, in 1942. Worthy was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
, class of 1957.
(1956–57) and Cuba
(1961) in violation of United States State Department travel regulations. At the time he entered China, Worthy was the first American reporter to visit and broadcast from there since the country's communist
revolution in 1949. While in China Worthy interviewed Samuel David Hawkins, an American soldier who was captured by the Chinese during the Korean War
and defected to China in 1953. His passport
was seized upon his return to the U.S. from China and American lawyers Leonard Boudin
and William Kunstler
represented Worthy in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking the return of his passport. Without a passport, Worthy traveled to Cuba in the early days of Fidel Castro
to report on the Cuban revolution, and upon his return to the U.S. he was tried and convicted for "returning to the United States without a valid passport." Worthy was again represented by Kunstler, who successfully persuaded a federal appeals court to overturn Worthy's conviction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the restrictions unconstitutional
. The court held that the government could not make it a crime under the Constitution
to return home without a passport. Years later, Kunstler wrote in his autobiography
, My Life As A Radical Lawyer, that the Worthy passport case was his "first experience arguing an issue about which I felt passionate," was the "first time I had ever invalidated a statute," and that success "confirmed my faith in the justice system."
Folksinger Phil Ochs
wrote a song called "The Ballad of William Worthy" about Worthy's trip to Cuba and its consequences.
The Committee for the Freedom of William Worthy was formed in 1962 and was chaired by A. Phillip Randolph and Bishop D. Ward Nichols.
Worthy was a conscientious objector
in World War II
, and in 1954 he voiced early opposition to American involvement in Vietnam
after he visited Indo-China in 1953.
William Worthy and Michael Lindsey co-taught the first class in Critical Journalism in the country. Noam Chomsky was a guest lecturer.
activist, and in the early 1960s he was an outspoken critic of the civil rights movement for not going far enough to achieve civil rights in housing and all areas of American life. William Worthy, along with actors Ossie Davis
and Ruby Dee
, writers James Baldwin
, Julian Mayfield and John Killens, poets Maya Angelou
, Sonia Sanchez
and Leroi Jones, historian John Henrik Clarke
, and photojournalist Gordon Parks
was one of the most important political allies of Malcolm X
. In the late 1960s, Worthy organized a rent strike
against a Catholic
hospital in New York City
that attempted to tear down Worthy's apartment building and turn it into a parking lot. Worthy later wrote about those experiences in a critically acclaimed book, The Rape of Our Neighborhoods, published in 1976.
The late psychologist, Kenneth B. Clark, said of Worthy: "The Bill Worthys of our society provide the moral fuel necessary to prevent the flickering conscience of our society from going out."
. However, the highly controversial and ultra-conservative BU president, John Silber
, removed Worthy as head of the program after Worthy criticized the BU administration and he supported BU campus workers who were attempting to unionize.
In 1981, the luggage of Worthy and two other journalists working with him, Terri Taylor and Randy Goodman, was seized by the FBI
and CIA
on their return from Iran
; and they subsequently won a suit on Fourth Amendment
grounds.http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=115719
Following his BU appointment, Worthy taught journalism at UMass Boston. William Worthy and Michael Lindsey co-taught the first class in Critical Journalism in the country at the College of Public and Community service, a branch of UMass Boston. Noam Chomsky was a guest lecturer.
William Worthy also taught at Howard University
in the 1980s and 1990s and held the Anneberg Chair. During most of the 1990s until 2005, Worthy lived in Washington, D.C.
, where he served as a special assistant to the dean of the School of Communications at Howard U. and served on the board of directors of the National Whistleblower Center
.
On February 22, 2008, the Nieman Foundation honored Worthy with the prestigious Louis M. Lyons Award.http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/22/reclaiming_a_gallant_voice/
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, civil rights activist, and dissident who pressed his right to travel regardless of U.S. State Department regulations.
Education
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Worthy is a graduate of Boston Latin High School, and received a B.A. degree in sociology from Bates CollegeBates College
Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...
, Lewiston, Maine, in 1942. Worthy was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, class of 1957.
Right to travel controversies
Worthy traveled to ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(1956–57) and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
(1961) in violation of United States State Department travel regulations. At the time he entered China, Worthy was the first American reporter to visit and broadcast from there since the country's communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
revolution in 1949. While in China Worthy interviewed Samuel David Hawkins, an American soldier who was captured by the Chinese during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and defected to China in 1953. His passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
was seized upon his return to the U.S. from China and American lawyers Leonard Boudin
Leonard Boudin
Leonard B. Boudin was an American civil liberties attorney and left-wing activist who represented Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame and Dr. Benjamin Spock, the author of Baby and Child Care, who advocated draft resistance during the Vietnam War...
and William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
represented Worthy in an unsuccessful lawsuit seeking the return of his passport. Without a passport, Worthy traveled to Cuba in the early days of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
to report on the Cuban revolution, and upon his return to the U.S. he was tried and convicted for "returning to the United States without a valid passport." Worthy was again represented by Kunstler, who successfully persuaded a federal appeals court to overturn Worthy's conviction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the restrictions unconstitutional
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
. The court held that the government could not make it a crime under the Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
to return home without a passport. Years later, Kunstler wrote in his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, My Life As A Radical Lawyer, that the Worthy passport case was his "first experience arguing an issue about which I felt passionate," was the "first time I had ever invalidated a statute," and that success "confirmed my faith in the justice system."
Folksinger Phil Ochs
Phil Ochs
Philip David Ochs was an American protest singer and songwriter who was known for his sharp wit, sardonic humor, earnest humanism, political activism, insightful and alliterative lyrics, and haunting voice...
wrote a song called "The Ballad of William Worthy" about Worthy's trip to Cuba and its consequences.
The Committee for the Freedom of William Worthy was formed in 1962 and was chaired by A. Phillip Randolph and Bishop D. Ward Nichols.
Worthy was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and in 1954 he voiced early opposition to American involvement in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
after he visited Indo-China in 1953.
William Worthy and Michael Lindsey co-taught the first class in Critical Journalism in the country. Noam Chomsky was a guest lecturer.
Civil rights activist
During the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, Worthy was a civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist, and in the early 1960s he was an outspoken critic of the civil rights movement for not going far enough to achieve civil rights in housing and all areas of American life. William Worthy, along with actors Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis
Ossie Davis was an American film actor, director, poet, playwright, writer, and social activist.-Early years:...
and Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee is an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist, perhaps best known for co-starring in the film A Raisin in the Sun and the film American Gangster for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Early years:Dee was born Ruby...
, writers James Baldwin
James Baldwin (writer)
James Arthur Baldwin was an American novelist, essayist, playwright, poet, and social critic.Baldwin's essays, for instance "Notes of a Native Son" , explore palpable yet unspoken intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western societies, most notably in mid-20th century America,...
, Julian Mayfield and John Killens, poets Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou is an American author and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer" by scholar Joanne M. Braxton. She is best known for her series of six autobiographical volumes, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. The first and most highly...
, Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez
Sonia Sanchez is an African American poet most often associated with the Black Arts Movement. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry, as well as plays and children's books...
and Leroi Jones, historian John Henrik Clarke
John Henrik Clarke
John Henrik Clarke , born John Henry Clark, was a Pan-Africanist American writer, historian, professor, and a pioneer in the creation of Africana studies and professional institutions in academia starting in the late 1960s.He was Professor of African World History and in 1969 founding chairman of...
, and photojournalist Gordon Parks
Gordon Parks
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director...
was one of the most important political allies of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
. In the late 1960s, Worthy organized a rent strike
Rent strike
A rent strike is a method of protest commonly employed against large landlords. In a rent strike, a group of tenants come together and agree to refuse to pay their rent en masse until a specific list of demands is met by the landlord...
against a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
hospital in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that attempted to tear down Worthy's apartment building and turn it into a parking lot. Worthy later wrote about those experiences in a critically acclaimed book, The Rape of Our Neighborhoods, published in 1976.
The late psychologist, Kenneth B. Clark, said of Worthy: "The Bill Worthys of our society provide the moral fuel necessary to prevent the flickering conscience of our society from going out."
Career teaching journalism
Worthy continued to work in the field of journalism and in the 1970s he was appointed as head of the African American journalism program at Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. However, the highly controversial and ultra-conservative BU president, John Silber
John Silber
John Robert Silber is an American academician and former candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996 he was President of Boston University and from 1996 to 2003 Chancellor of the University. Since 2003 he has been its President Emeritus. In 1990, Silber took a leave of absence from the...
, removed Worthy as head of the program after Worthy criticized the BU administration and he supported BU campus workers who were attempting to unionize.
In 1981, the luggage of Worthy and two other journalists working with him, Terri Taylor and Randy Goodman, was seized by the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
on their return from Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
; and they subsequently won a suit on Fourth Amendment
Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause...
grounds.http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=115719
Following his BU appointment, Worthy taught journalism at UMass Boston. William Worthy and Michael Lindsey co-taught the first class in Critical Journalism in the country at the College of Public and Community service, a branch of UMass Boston. Noam Chomsky was a guest lecturer.
William Worthy also taught at Howard University
Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
in the 1980s and 1990s and held the Anneberg Chair. During most of the 1990s until 2005, Worthy lived in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he served as a special assistant to the dean of the School of Communications at Howard U. and served on the board of directors of the National Whistleblower Center
National Whistleblower Center
The National Whistleblower Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax exempt, educational and advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C....
.
On February 22, 2008, the Nieman Foundation honored Worthy with the prestigious Louis M. Lyons Award.http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/22/reclaiming_a_gallant_voice/
Books
- The Vanguard: A photographic essay on the Black Panthers, by Ruth-Marion Baruch, Parkle Jones, and William Worthy (Paperback - Jan 18, 1970).
- The Rape of Our Neighborhoods: And How Communities Are Resisting Take-Overs by Colleges, Hospitals, Churches, Businesses, and Public Agencies, by William, Worthy (Hardcover – 1976) (Paperback - April 1977).
- Interview with Prince Sihanouk, by William Worthy (Unknown Binding - 1965).
- The story of the two first colored nurses to train in Boston City Hospital, Boston, Mass., by William Worthy (Unknown Binding - 1942) written by his Father, Dr. William Worthy, who arranged for their entrance to Nurses' training.
- Our disgrace in Indo-China, by William Worthy (Unknown Binding - 1954).
- Pampered dictators and neglected cities: The Philippine connection, by William Worthy (Unknown Binding - 1978).
- The Silent Slaughter: The Role Of The United States In The Indonesian Massacre, by Eric Norden, William Worthy, Andrew March, and Mark Lane (Youth Against War & Fascism) Norden (Pamphlet - 1967).