Information about Charles M. Blow
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About Charles M. Blow
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Journalist Charles M. Blow was born on August 11, 1970 in Gibsland, Louisiana. As a young boy, Blow was inspired by his mother, a teacher and school administrator. He went on to graduate magna cum laude from Grambling State University in Louisiana, where he received his B.A. degree in mass communications. As a student, Blow interned at The New York Times and was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Gramblinite. He also founded a now-defunct student magazine called Razz.
Upon graduation from Grambling State University in 1991, Blow was hired as a graphic artist for The Detroit News. He then joined The New York Times in 1994 as a graphics editor and subsequently became the paper's graphics director, a position he held for nine years. Blow was later appointed as The New York Times' design director for news before leaving in 2006 to become the Art Director for National Geographic magazine. In 2008, Blow returned to The New York Times, where he was named the paper's first visual op-ed columnist. His column appeared twice-a-week, and he wrote a blog entitled "By The Numbers" for the newspaper's website. Blow also served as a CNN commentator, and appeared on MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, the BBC, Al Jazeera, and HBO.
While at The New York Times, Blow led the paper to a best of show award from the Society of News Design for its information graphics coverage of 9/11, the first time the award had been given for graphics coverage. He also led the newspaper to its first two best in show awards from the Malofiej International Infographics Summit for work that included coverage of the Iraq war. Since 2011, Blow has been ranked on The Roots' Top 100 most influential people list. In addition to these honors, he was one of the leading voices on the Trayvon Martin case in the first half of 2012.
His memoir, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, was published in 2014.
Blow lives in Brooklyn with his three children.
Charles M. Blow was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on September 11, 2014.
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Charles M. Blow's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Charles M. Blow lists his favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow describes his father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow describes his mother's family background, pt. 1
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow lists his siblings
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow describes his earliest childhood memory
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Charles M. Blow describes the sights, sounds and smells of his childhood
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Charles M. Blow talks about rural farm life in Gibsland, Louisiana
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Charles M. Blow describes his household
Tape: 1 Story: 11 - Charles M. Blow describes his personality
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow remembers telling his mother about his experiences of childhood sexual abuse, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow recalls his experiences of childhood sexual abuse
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences during elementary school
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow remembers the holidays
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow talks about his early experiences of religion
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow recalls his favorite subjects in school
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Charles M. Blow reflects upon his experiences of growing up
Tape: 2 Story: 9 - Charles M. Blow talks about the impact of his childhood trauma
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow remembers his first romantic relationship, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Charles M. Blow remembers his first relationship, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow describes his decision to attend Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow remembers meeting Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences at Gibsland-Coleman High School in Gibsland, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences at Grambling State University in Grambling, Louisiana
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow talks about losing his southern accent
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences with hazing at Grambling State University
Tape: 3 Story: 9 - Charles M. Blow talks about his leadership roles at Grambling State University
Tape: 3 Story: 10 - Charles M. Blow recalls changing his major to journalism
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow talks about his student magazine, The Razz
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Charles M. Blow remembers the popular culture of his generation
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow recalls his summer internship at the Shreveport Times
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow recalls how he came to intern at The New York Times
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow remembers arriving in New York City
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow talks about his early experiences in New York City
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences at The Detroit News
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Charles M. Blow talks about his experiences in Detroit, Michigan
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Charles M. Blow recalls joining the staff of The New York Times
Tape: 4 Story: 10 - Charles M. Blow talks about raising his children in Brooklyn, New York
Tape: 4 Story: 11 - Charles M. Blow recalls becoming the youngest department head at The New York Times
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow describes his experiences as graphics director at The New York Times, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow talks about the theory of visual journalism
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow remembers his staff at The New York Times
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow describes his transition to National Geographic
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow talks about his return to The New York Times
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow describes his early career as an op-ed columnist, pt. 1
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow describes his process for writing a column
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Charles M. Blow reflects upon his position as a columnist at The New York Times
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow talks about his writing process and style
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow talks about Hurricane Katrina
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow remembers covering the shooting of Trayvon Martin, pt. 1
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow reflects upon the state of the African American community
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Charles M. Blow describes his hopes and concerns for the African American community
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Charles M. Blow talks about balancing his family and his career
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Charles M. Blow talks about his experiences as a celebrity
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Charles M. Blow describes the process of writing 'Fire Shut Up in My Bones'
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Charles M. Blow remembers telling his ex-wife about his bisexuality
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Charles M. Blow talks about the issue of bisexual invisibility
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Charles M. Blow talks about the perception of bisexuality in the LGBTQ community
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Charles M. Blow reflects upon his legacy