Renee Poussaint

Renee Poussaint (August 12, 1944 – March 4, 2022) was an Emmy Award-winning American broadcast journalist and educator known for reporting and advocacy related to Black history.

Early life and education Poussaint was born on August 12, 1944, in Manhattan and grew up in Spanish Harlem. During her undergraduate studies she also took courses at Yale Law School and Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Poussaint began doctoral studies in comparative literature at the Indiana University before changing course after students expressed that they got most of their information from television. She began working as a Washington correspondent for CBS News in the mid-1970s and was hired in 1978 by WJLA-TV as an evening and late-night news co-anchor. In the mid-1970s she worked at WBBM-TV, hosting the lunch hour program Channel 2: The People. Funded by Camille and husband Bill Cosby, the oral history project interviewed Black elders who were 70 years of age and older. A service in her honor was held at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.

Publications