Pinback Button, "And Still We Rise"

This pinback button miniaturizes the cover of the book, And Still We Rise: Interviews with 50 Black Role Models, published by Barbara Reynolds and USA Today in 1988. On a black background, names of influential African Americans stand out in yellow with the book’s title overlaid in white. The promotional button belonged to one of the author’s mentors, pioneering journalist Ethel L. Payne (1911-1991), whose name appears under the word “Rise.” A Chicago native, Payne moved to Washington, DC in 1952 to cover national and international news. The lifelong civil rights activist reported from thirty countries over the course of her career, becoming known as the First Lady of the Black Press.