The Impact of Black PR Professionals
Posted on Feb. 20, 2025 / Subscribe 0
By Shelley Shockley, VP Diversity & Inclusion
In honor of Black History Month, let’s examine the impact of black Public Relations (PR) professionals in the industry.
First, we must look at the industry – what is PR? PR is an industry that shapes how brands, businesses, and individuals communicate with the public. It encompasses media relations, crisis management, brand storytelling, corporate communications, and social media strategy. PR professionals create messages that influence public perception, build credibility, and maintain a positive image for their clients.
The art of influencing the public has existed for many centuries through storytelling, speeches and propaganda in its earliest form. Changing to advertisements in newspapers and pamphlets in the 18th and 19th centuries through the late 20th century.
These early influencers represented the majority population or the voices of the white establishment, and did not focus on or seeking out the minority voices. As the world changed, and the economic power of minority groups continued to rise – an audience was born.
The audience was always there, there just wasn’t a desire to reach them, a fact that remains in many ways today. The first African-American owned PR firm, Joseph V. Baker and Associates, was founded in 1934 in New York. The firm, according to prnewsonline and the Museum of Public Relations, specialized in PR, marketing and advertising targeting African-American audiences.
Baker’s influence is evident from his clients, which included the Pennsylvania Railroad, American Tobacco Company, Procter & Gamble and more. His ability to develop relationships with major corporations exhibits the importance of African American PR professionals. Following in Baker’s footsteps were pioneers that include Moss Hyles Kendrix, founder of the Moss Kendrix Organization, and often referred to as “the crown prince of public relations.” A 2018 blog post highlights Kendrix’s resilience in opening doors for black representation at a time when it wasn’t welcomed in the PR industry. The post notes that his best-known work was with the Coca-Cola Company, where he created a series of marketing and advertising campaigns displaying African Americans as normal, everyday, Americans.
These pioneers and others offered a clear vision of the need for black PR professionals, and Kendrix went a step further founding the National Association of Market Developers (NAMD) to encourage young people of color to consider the PR field.
Today, black representation in the industry is less than 10 percent of the workforce, so the need for diversity remains.
To reverse this trend everyone from corporate leaders, managers and staff must commit to promoting diversity through hiring men and women who can provide authentic voices and experiences of minority populations. Black PR professionals must also do their part – share your story so that young people will know what a PR professional does and believe they too can one-day walk in your footsteps.
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