The pioneering journalist and longtime Bay Area TV personality Belva Davis has died at age 92, leaving behind a legacy of resilience, barrier-breaking, and decades of award-winning reporting, according to multiple news sources. Multiple news reports have confirmed that Davis has died, including KQED and KRON, newsrooms where Davis spent many years.Davis, who was the first African-American woman to become a TV reporter on the West Coast, worked for decades as a journalist in the Bay Area, including at all three of the region’s major television stations. A native of Monroe, Louisiana, but raised in Oakland, Davis began her reporting career in 1957 and went on to win eight Emmy Awards and recognition from prominent journalism organizations for her dogged reporting, which earned her a place in the hearts and minds of Bay Area residents.
But it wasn’t always so easy for Davis. After joining the journalism field, Davis endured racism, slurs and was denied access and treated with hostility, including on one infamous instance at the 1964 Republican national convention, which was held in the Cow Palace in Daly City, according to KQED. Still, Davis was known for her fairness and was deeply respected by peers and colleagues, covering news in politics, social justice, public affairs, the Jonestown massacre, and interviewing high-profile people like boxer Muhammad Ali and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. She was also an active participant in her union, holding the position of vice president in AFTRA, and she was asked to serve on many boards, commissions and civic institutions. But most will remember Davis for her gracious, welcoming and kind demeanor, according to friends and colleagues. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said she met Davis as a young student at Mills College, and described her as a “steady source of inspiration, guidance and friendship for me” as well as a “role model, pioneer and dear friend.” She expressed her condolences to her husband William Moore, and her children Steven and Darolyn, as well as anyone else “whose lives were touched by her extraordinary spirit.” “I will never forget traveling to Italy for her wedding anniversary, where friends and family from across the world gathered to honor the remarkable bond between Belva and Bill,” Lee said in a statement. “That celebration reflected the strength, joy, and grace she carried into every part of her life. For Black women and people of color working to break into media and television, Belva was a beacon.””She opened doors that had long been closed, proving through her talent and perseverance that our voices belonged on the airwaves. She made it possible for a new generation of journalists to see themselves in all forms of media and to know they had a place in shaping public conversation,” she said. Rachel Gordon, a San Francisco Department of Public Works spokesperson and a longtime San Francisco Chronicle journalist, said she was saddened by the news of Davis’ passing, whom she said she learned a lot from as a budding reporter. She described Davis as “a rock in journalism.””Ethical, a determined truth-teller and a mentor to many of us,” Gordon said. “A true giant.”
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