By Dr. Ester Davis
Clara McLaughlin believes it may seem difficult but it can be done. When she enrolled at Howard University, she was amazed that this most prestigious school for people of color did not offer journalism as a major. She felt that the media could make or break you. “When it likes you, it can make you. When it dislikes you, it can break you.” Therefore, she initiated a petition for a major in journalism. The next year journalism was offered as a major, Tony Brown of the PBS channel, The Tony Brown Journal, became the dean and Ms. Katherine Graham, owner of the Washington Post provided a radio and TV station to the school, giving them the faith and needed tools to carry on.
When Clara and family moved to Houston, she completed writing her book, The Black Parents Handbook,which provides a more realistic growth pattern for black children than the ones that were written for all parents. This allowed her more time to watch television but she did not like the image of females and minorities being portrayed on television. She therefore sent a petition to the Federal Communications Commission with a request to grant a television allocation to the city that could be used to air more positive programs of women and minorities. The petition was approved but Clara did not win the new channels allocated because she was able, with shareholders, build an already unused channel in Longview, Texas as a CBS Network affiliate, making her the first black woman in the United States to have major ownership of a network affiliated television station.
Clara did not stop there. She later, after moving to Florida, acquired the Florida Star Newspaper, built the Georgia Star Newspaper, started a weekly radio talk show (Impact) on a Christian radio station (AM & FM) and continues her work to change the image of minorities and women. With this in mind, Dr. Ester Davis of Dallas’ weekly “Ester Davis Show” that has been airing for more than 30 years and has millions of viewers, had Clara in Dallas this past weekend to speak with women from the Dallas area to encourage them to continue their battle to create and own a business.
This article was originally published in The Florida Star.
