Mary C. Curtis

Mary Cecelia Curtis (born September 4, 1953) is an American journalist who has been a reporter and editor at major publications including The New York Times, Baltimore Sun, and the Arizona Daily Star. She was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Region IV National Association of Black Journalists in 2004. Curtis is now a columnist for Roll Call and a senior facilitator for The OpEd Project. She is known for her coverage of politics as it intersects with race and culture, and for being a pioneer and advocate for diversity in U.S. news media. Early life Curtis was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Thomas and Evelyn Curtis. She was named for her grandmother, Mary Cecelia, and uses her middle initial in her honor. Several of her siblings and her mother were politically active. She credits her start in journalism to being around that activism: "Because I was around all that activity when I was very young and I was very encouraged to take part in those discussions, I feel as though I always was an observer and a journalist, in a way. I liked to observe," Curtis commented.