Aubespin, Mervin
Interviewer:
K'Meyer, Tracy
Transcription available:
yes
Series:
Civil Rights Movement in Louisville
Interview Number(s):
2002_1_4
2002_1_5
Summary:
Mervin Aubespin (b. 1937 in Louisiana), a reporter for the Courier-Journal, talks about his path to the Civil Rights movement starting in Alabama and then in Louisville; Louisville during segregation; housing discrimination; and white flight. As an activist, Aubespin participated in marches, sit-ins, voter registration and organization for public accommodation, open housing, and to integrate Fontaine Ferry. Aubespin was originally hired by the Courier-Journal an artist, one of the first Black employees there. He covered the Parkland Uprising but did not get a byline or credit for his work. He then attended an intensive program at Columbia University to produce Black journalists and had a successful career as a reporter for the Courier-Journal, specializing in covering topics of interest to the Black community. Regarded as an expert on racism and the media, Aubespin is a past president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and was given the Ida B. Wells Award for his efforts to bring minorities into the field of journalism. Aubespin was also the founder of the Louisville Association of Black Communicators.
Topic(s):
Civil rights--Kentucky--Louisville, African Americans--Kentucky--Louisville, African American neighborhoods--Kentucky--Louisville, Civil rights demonstrations--Kentucky--Louisvile, Segregation--Kentucky--Louisville, Race relations--Kentucky--Louisville, Discrimination in housing--Kentucky--Louisville, 1968 Parkland Uprising, African American neighborhoods--Kentucky --Louisville, African American journalists
