| Malachi
Daraja |
 |
| Morgan
State University |
Malachi Daraja has always
had his head in a book.
“I have never known a living environment that
did not have at least four stacked bookshelves filled
to the brim with books,’’ said Daraja,
editor in chief of The Spokesman, the student newspaper
at Morgan State University in Baltimore.
In elementary school, Daraja couldn’t get
enough of the Goosebumps books.
“I finished
them in three hours,” said the 20-year-old
senior from Long Island. “I needed more than
one and I filled up my own bookshelf.”
After turning his love of reading into writing short
stories, poetry, and fiction, Daraja developed a
passion for journalism during his sophomore year
of college.
Starting as a staff writer at The Spokesman, Daraja
became world news editor and eventually managing
editor.
“I just got hooked,” Daraja
said. “When I became world news editor, I
found something I really enjoyed.”
This summer he will intern in the public relations
office at Morgan State. He will also be in charge
of the university’s first journalism boot
camp.
Although Daraja said he’s open to all types
of journalism, he wants to become a foreign correspondent.
He is also interested in American politics.
He said that if African Americans realized the power
they, it could bring about major change.
“If African Americans stood up and demanded
(improvement in) education, we would get it,”
Daraja said. “You can’t ignore that
large a number. It is easy for politicians to ignore
us because we are not a part of the political process.”
TITUS LEDBETTER III
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