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9781647127770 Academic Inspection Copy

Somebody Had to Speak Up

Selected Columns on Justice, Leadership, and Civility
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A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post columnist's timely collection looks at community issues of equity and justice The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Colbert I. King has been speaking up his entire life, most recently as a columnist for the Washington Post. For thirty years, until his retirement in 2025, he chronicled stories ranging from global crises to national tragedies, from triumphs to local and community issues of equity and justice. A lifelong resident of Washington, DC, King has deep reverence for the history of the nation's capital and the circumstances of its residents. His columns showcase a writer who is fueled by a lifelong sense of responsibility of service to his fellow citizens and to humanity at large. Somebody Had to Speak Up covers topics ranging from the impact of failing schools and gun violence on Black families in DC, to racism and bigotry, the government's duty to constituents, the seminal mayoralty of Marion Barry, home rule, and profiles in leadership. This collection is for civic-minded readers interested in key moments of American and DC history, scholars of journalism and media studies, and readers compelled to use their own voices to stand up for what is right.
Colbert I. King is a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who wrote a weekly column for the Washington Post from 1997 to 2025 and a former deputy editor of the Post's editorial page. He has extensive experience in international banking and foreign affairs, including six years at the State Department (1964-70), two years as a World Bank executive director (1979-81), and a decade as an executive vice president of Riggs Bank (1981-90).
"Somebody Had to Speak Up powerfully illustrates what King's readers have known for decades: He is one of the greatest columnists Washington has ever known. His deeply reported essays in The Washington Post about his native city give voice to the powerless, the forgotten, the pushed-aside. His meditations on what it means to be a Black man in America today are uncompromising and inspiring. Yes, somebody had to speak up. We should all be grateful that Colby King accepted that challenge."-Eugene Robinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Washington Post columnist, author of Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America
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