Renee Poussaint was an Emmy Award-winning American broadcast journalist and educator known for reporting and advocacy related to Black history.
14 Facts About Renee Poussaint
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Renee Poussaint's uncle, Alvin Francis Poussaint, is a psychiatrist who consulted on The Cosby Show.
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Renee 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.
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Renee Poussaint enrolled in a journalism program at Columbia University in 1973 and was hired as a news writer in by WBBM-TV the same year.
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In 1967, after completing her undergraduate studies, Renee Poussaint danced with the Jean Leon Destine Haitian Dance Company.
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Renee Poussaint edited the Los Angeles Based African Arts Magazine from 1969 to 1973 and worked as a translator at the University of California in 1970.
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Renee Poussaint 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.
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Renee Poussaint would go on to work for ABC News, often sitting in for Peter Jennings on World News Tonight and appearing as a correspondent for PrimeTime Live and in news segments on Good Morning America.
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In 2001 Renee Poussaint founded the National Visionary Leadership Project in 2001 with Camille Cosby.
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Renee Poussaint was the founder of her own non-profit documentary company, Wisdom Works, which produced Tutu and Franklin: A Journey Towards Peace which examined racial reconciliation with South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and American historian John Hope Franklin.
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Later in life Renee Poussaint taught at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism.
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Renee Poussaint won three Emmy Awards over the course of her career.
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Renee Poussaint was recognized for reporting about Haitian migrant workers at a labor camp on Maryland's Eastern Shore, an account of the return of the American hostages from Iran, and a profile about Washington Commanders owner Jack Kent Cooke.
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Renee Poussaint died of lung cancer on March 4,2022, at her home in DC A service in her honor was held at the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ.