[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 195 (Thursday, December 15, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1301]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING LEONARD PITTS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FREDERICA S. WILSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, December 15, 2022

  Ms. WILSON of Florida. Madam Speaker, from the 24th District of the 
great State of Florida, I rise today to honor Pulitzer Prize-winning 
columnist, journalist, and novelist, Leonard Pitts, Jr. Mr. Pitts is 
the recipient of the 2022 5000 Role Models of Excellence Dr. Martin 
Luther King, Jr. Freedom and Justice Award.
  A native of Southern California, Pitts entered the University of 
Southern California at 15 through a special honors program and 
graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English at age 19.
  Upon graduation, he worked as a freelance music reviewer for a broad 
range of publications. He wrote scripts for the award-winning 
documentary films King: From Atlanta to the Mountaintop (1986), Who We 
Are (1988), and Young Black Men: A Lost Generation (1990). He served as 
a staff writer for the music countdown show American Top 40 and its 
legendary host, Casey Kasem, from 1989 to 1991. In 1991, he was hired 
as a music critic by the Miami Herald and began writing commentary in 
1995.
  He is perhaps best known for his twice-weekly syndicated columns that 
tackle the race, politics, and culture. He won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize 
in Commentary ``for his fresh, vibrant columns that spoke, with both 
passion and compassion, to ordinary people on often divisive issues.''
  Other awards include first place for commentary in division four in 
the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors' Ninth Annual 
Writing Awards competition; three National Association of Black 
Journalists' Awards of Excellence; and NABJ's 2008 Journalist of the 
Year. He is a five-time recipient of the Atlantic City Press Club's 
National Headliners Award and a seven-time recipient of the Society of 
Professional Journalists' Green Eyeshade Award. In 2001, he received 
the American Society of Newspaper Editors prestigious Award for 
Commentary Writing and was named Feature of the Year in the column 
writing division by Editor and Publisher magazine. In 2002, the 
National Society of Newspaper Columnists awarded Pitts its inaugural 
Columnist of the Year award; in 2016, it named him to its Hall of Fame. 
In 2002 and in 2009, GLAAD Media awarded Pitts the Outstanding 
Newspaper Columnist award. In 2017, he was awarded the Missouri Honor 
Medal and has received four honorary doctorates. The father of five is 
the author of four novels and has also written nonfiction books.
  Madam Speaker, please join me in honoring Leonard Pitts, Jr.

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