Remembering Tony Brown

Tony Brown of the famed Tony Brown’s Journal died today, Friday, June 26, 2026. Until today Brown was one of the few remaining old school Black male warrior journalists that Black audiences could count on to learn about timely topics, be exposed to accurate news accounts and to hear from some of the most interesting and/or controversial Black figures on the political scene. No talk show played host to the kind of sports, entertainment and political figures that appeared on Tony Brown’s Journal. The talk show which started on commercial television in syndication in the late 1970s, then shifted to PBS in 1982, was the successor to the series Black Journal. Tony Brown’s Journal was cutting edge in a lot of ways.

Always nattily dressed the bespectacled Tony Brown spoke truth to power and was part of an era of Black male warrior journalists who were unapologetically Black and a staunch defender of Black peoples’ rights. From the late 1960s to the early 2000s Brown took his charge as an advocate on behalf of his people seriously. Although Brown was never outwardly militant behind the conservative suit and tie was a commitment to do battle on behalf of people of African descent wherever they happen to be in the world. Tony Brown’s Journal brought its viewers an accurate, nuanced and non-monolithic portrayal of Black America that was conspicuously absent from the traditional American media, namely the legacy media, both print as well as television. Whereas one would be hard-pressed to find an accurate portrayal of Black America in many of the country’s major newspapers or on any of America’s major networks TonyBrown’s Journal was the Black community’s go to television source for information that concerned them.

Historically, the Black media has always played an integral role in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Simply put, there is no period in American history where the Black media did not serve in an advocacy role as it pertained to Blacks’ fight to end racial discrimination and to pressure America to live up the principles and values as outlined in the country’s most sacrosanct documents-the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. There have been television talk shows with Black hosts since Tony Brown’s Journal but none of them possessed the gravitas, panache, and commitment to the Black community witnessed on Tony Brown’s Journal and its host. What’s more, there is no denying that Tony Brown’s Journal was unequivocally a Black talk show and his commitment to educating audiences, instilling in them a political consciousness and nudging them to action is indisputable. To say that Tony Brown’s Journal resonated with the African American community is an understatement. Tony Brown died today at his home in Newport News, Virginia; he was 93.

Judson L. Jeffries, PhD, MPH, is Professor of African American and African Studies at The Ohio State University.