Moneta Sleet Jr., a photographer for Ebony magazine, became the first African American man and the first African American photographer to win a Pulitzer Prize. He received the award for his poignant photograph of Coretta Scott King, taken at the funeral of her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The image, showing Mrs. King with their daughter Bernice on her lap, became one of the most iconic portrayals of grief and strength during the civil rights era. Sleet’s win was also a major milestone for Black journalists and photographers working in mainstream media.
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