Written by Grambling State University
Renowned journalist and author Roland Martin will serve as keynote speaker at Grambling State University (GSU) Monday, February 7 at 7 p.m. during the Black History Month program with the theme, “Fitting Into The Country We Built.” Presented by GSU’s Lyceum Committee and the Favrot Student Union Board, the event will take place in T.H. Harris Auditorium. Protective masks are required for those attending the event.
Martin is the host of the Roland Martin Unfiltered Daily Digital Show, which streams on FaceBook Live, YouTube, Periscope, and IGTV at 5 p.m. CST daily.
The show focuses on news and analysis of politics, entertainment, sports, and culture from an explicitly African American perspective.
Ebony Magazine has four times named Martin as one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans in the United States. NewsOne.com named Martin as the number one Black pundit in the country and he has also been named several times to The Root 100’s annual list of influential African Americans.
The four-time NAACP Image Award winner, including named Best Host twice out of the last three years, has also earned more than 30 awards for journalistic excellence, including being named the Journalist of the Year in 2013 by the National Association of Black Journalists for his extensive focus on voter suppression and other issues of concern to African Americans during the 2012 election.
Martin was awarded the 2008 President’s Award by the National Association of Black Journalists for his work on multiple media platforms. In 2008, he was also inducted into the Texas A&M University Journalism Hall of Honor.
He spent six years as a contributor for CNN and 13 years at TV One Network, where he played an integral role in building the Black-owned network. Martin first came to TV One Network in 2005 doing commentaries, and in 2009 began a four-year stint as host/managing editor of the Sunday morning show “Washington Watch.”
From 2013 to 2017, he was the host/managing editor of NewsOneNow, the first daily morning news show in history targeting African Americans.
Martin is also the author of three books: Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith,” “Speak, Brother!: A Black Man’s View of America, and The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin.
He has contributed to several other publications including Paradox of Loyalty: An African American Response to the War on Terrorism by Julianne Malveaux, Black Woman Redefined: Dispelling Myths and Discovering Fulfillment in the Age of Michelle Obama by Sophia Nelson, and Faivish Pewzner New York and Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge by Etan Thomas and Nick Chiles.
