When Jemele Hill stood at the podium at Disney’s Dreamers Academy event in Orlando, Fla., she was basking in the glow of literary lights. In the past year, Hill achieved a new height in journalism when she became ESPN’s first and only black female sports columnist. “I was a columnist at the Orlando Sentinel, the only black female sports columnist in the country at that time, and that notoriety got my résumé and clips on the right desk,” recounts Hill.

The right desk turned out to belong to Keith Clinkscales, SVP and GM of ESPN Publishing. Hill quickly clinched a deal to join ESPN after just one meeting with Clinkscales.

Hill, a product of Detroit’s projects, says she knew she had a career in journalism when she became familiar with the National Association of Black Journalists as a junior in high school. “I saw three to four thousand professional black journalists [at a meeting] and it resonated … I was like, ‘hey, I can do this, I can be a journalist.’ ”

Hill honed her sportswriting and journalism skills while at the Detroit Free Press as a college football and basketball writer. The Michigan State University graduate offers these keys to success. “One, be tough. Two, there’s no such thing as luck; it’s when preparation meets opportunity. I borrowed that from a football coach. And three, the best revenge is success,” she counsels.

Hill doesn’t take her success lightly at ESPN, the worldwide leader in sports reporting. She gives back to NABJ for empowering her at a young age. Hill is an active member of their sports task force and will serve as a panelist at the convention in Chicago this summer. –yvette caslin.

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