Jayne Kennedy, the First Black Female to Host a Network TV Sports Broadcast
It was already believed that women didn’t have much of a place in sports journalism unless they were just offering up a pretty face. To be a Black woman trying to get in such an industry seemed like an asinine dream back in the 1970s, but Kennedy never lost hope. In 1978, she took over for Phyllis George on The NFL Today, making her the first Black woman to host a network sports television broadcast.
Alyce Chavunduka, the First Black Female Anchor on a ‘White’ Channel in South Africa
Chavunduka managed to do what seemed to be the impossible. South Africa is still dealing with race issues today, but Chavunduka never let racial discrimination deter her. At the age of 23, the Zimbabwe native became the first Black female anchor on South Africa’s SABC — a channel previously touted as a “white” only channel. She passed away in 2014, at the age of 46, due to an epileptic seizure.
