Sam Yette Dies, Wrote of "Black Survival"

Maynard Institute
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Newsweek's 1st Black D.C. Writer Fired After "The Choice"

Samuel F. Yette, a reporter, teacher, author and photojournalist whose publication of the 1971 book "The Choice: The Issue of Black Survival in America" coincided with his dismissal as the first black Washington correspondent for Newsweek magazine, died Friday at an assisted living facility in Laurel, Md.
He was 81 and had Alzheimer's disease, a son, Michael Yette, told Journal-isms.
"My dad would like to be known for teaching," Michael Yette said. "He was a natural teacher, and he wanted to spread knowledge and wisdom to particularly his people to help them advance the lives of his people, and journalism was his tool of preference in doing that."
However, Yette's controversial Vietnam-era book "The Choice" put him in headlines. It came to be used as a textbook on 50 college campuses, including DePaul University, the University of Chicago and the University of Nebraska, he said, as well as at traditionally black schools such as Howard University.

Full Story: http://mije.org/richardprince/samuel-f-yette-dies