What:

The U.S. Postal Service will unveil the Gwen Ifill Forever Stamp at the KUUMBA Festival African Marketplace.

Gwen Ifill forever stamps, framed art, and first day cover cachets will be available for purchase.

Who:

Lawnett Braggs, United States Postal Service Human Resources Manager, San Diego
Eric Gilbert, United States Postal Service Manager of Operations, San Diego

When:

Saturday, February 29, 2020
7:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 1, 2020
4:00 p.m.

Where:

San Diego Repertory Theatre (The Lyceum Theatre)
79 Horton Plaza
San Diego CA 92101

Background:

The 43rd stamp in the Black Heritage series honors Gwen Ifill (1955-2016), one of America’s most esteemed journalists.

Gwen joins an illustrious list of black women on stamps that includes: Harriet Tubman, Rosa parks, Maya Angelou, Dorothy Height, Marian Anderson, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Elle Baker, Patricia Roberts Harris, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sarah Vaughan and Zora Neale Hurston, among others.

Gwen Ifill was a remarkable trailblazer who broke through gender and racial barriers. She covered the White House and Congress and reported on seven national campaigns for major media outlets, like the Washington Post, the New York times, NBC News and, most prominently, television’s Public Broadcasting Service —PBS.

In 2004, she became the first African American female journalist to moderate a vice presidential debate —and she did the honors again four years later.  

In 1999, Gwen became the first African American, and the first woman, to host a prominent national political talk show — Washington Week on PBS.

She went on to become managing editor and co-hose of the PBS News Hour in 2013, with Judy Woodruff, to form the first all-female anchor team on an evening news show.

###