Trailblazing journalist Belva Davis celebrated in service at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral
The life of trailblazing journalist Belva Davis, the first Black female television reporter on the West Coast, was celebrated in a remembrance at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral on Monday.
Davis died on Sept. 24 at the age of 92 after a long illness, and her celebration of life on Monday was open to the public.
“Belva was the love of my life. We had a magical bond from the moment we first met and were forever inseparable,” said a statement from her husband of 62 years, Bill Moore. “We both started from humble beginnings but managed to build a life beyond any of our wildest dreams. The thing we enjoyed most was traveling the world from the Bay Area to parts near and far. We started our lives together during a time of social unrest but vowed to raise our family to make a difference. I am forever grateful for the gifts she gave me and will hold her love and spirit for eternity. I love you and miss you, Belva.”
The Belva Davis Family
The Monroe, Louisiana native moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with her family when she was 8 years old, graduating from Berkeley High School in 1951. With college out of financial reach, she began working as a typist on Treasure Island and began writing for Black women’s organizations, leading to freelance reporting jobs with Jet magazine and the Sun-Reporter newspaper.
The Bay Area Independent then offered her a full-time job, where she continued to hone her storytelling talents before landing her groundbreaking television debut at KPIX, the CBS affiliate in San Francisco. Davis also spent 18 years at KRON, the former NBC affiliate in San Francisco, along with two stints at public television station KQED, hosting the well-respected “This Week in Northern California” roundtable show for many years until her retirement in 2012 at age 80.
“I wanted to broadcast the reality of my community to those who could not otherwise imagine it, to fill in that missing perspective,” Davis wrote in her memoir.
Among Davis’s most memorable works were her insightful interviews with national and international figures such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fidel Castro, Frank Sinatra, James Baldwin, and Muhammad Ali.
Her accolades include eight Emmy Awards, the International Women’s Media Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame, the Radio Hall of Fame, and the California Hall of Fame. She was recognized with honorary doctorate degrees by Academy of Art University, Golden Gate University, JFK University, and Sonoma State University.
“Today’s black journalists walk in Belva’s footsteps,” said “60 Minutes” reporter Bill Whitaker.
Davis is also survived by a daughter and a son, their spouses, two grandchildren, and many other relatives.
