It was during that event that I really understood the power and passion of Marion Barry. So many people talked about how he gave them their first job or helped their parents in some way.
During the three-day celebration of Barry's life, my job was to be one of the reporters feeding quotes to the reporters who would “anchor” the story. It didn’t matter that I would never get a byline on those stories because I had so many that Barry gave me when he was alive.
At Barry’s viewing at the Wilson building I approached Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser for an interview. Before providing a quote for the story, she told me, “He sure liked to talk to you.” It was hard not to break down and cry.
I felt compelled to walk behind the horse-drawn caisson as it made its way to the Temple of Praise with a brass band from the Charlotte Mission Church of the United House of Prayer for All People playing a brassy version of the hymn, “When I’ve Gone the last Mile of the Way.”
Journalism is about relationships and knowing when to work and when to stop. Marion Barry was a Prince Hall Mason like myself. That evening I had shifted from my reporter clothes into a black suit and tie and white apron to pay my respects along with other members of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia.
Then came Saturday. Inside the cavernous Walter Washington Convention Center there were politicians and preachers from across the country, including Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, Rev. Jesse Jackson and Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, to help eulogize Barry.
While I listened, taped the service on my phone and took photographs with a Nikon and my iPad, I thought about how much journalism and the tools we used had changed. Just then my editor emailed me and asked if I could get to the cemetery.
My reporting of Mayor Barry ended outside the gate of Congressional Cemetery at sunset, in a light rain. It didn’t matter that I was there along with my colleague Keith Alexander to get video, photos and comments from people at the gravesite.
In all of my years of covering Barry, I maintained my objectivity. I was tough when I needed to be. I joked when I could. But Barry cultivated in my heart a
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(Photo courtesy of C-Span)