Jill Nelson is a prominent African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and novelist. She has written several books, including the autobiographical Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience, which won an American Book Award

American Book Award

The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...

, and is currently Professor of Journalism at the City College of New York

City College of New York

The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...

.

Jill Nelson grew up in New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

's Harlem, spending summers on Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....

. She graduated from the City College of New York and went on to study at the Columbia School of Journalism

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...

. Nelson wrote for the Washington Post Magazine at its inception, and was awarded the Washington D.C. Journalist of the Year for her contributions. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, Essence, The Nation

The Nation

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...

, Ms.

Ms. magazine

Ms. is an American feminist magazine co-founded by American feminist and activist Gloria Steinem and founding editor Letty Cottin Pogrebin together with founding editors Patricia Carbine, Joanne Edgar, Nina Finkelstein, and Mary Peacock, that first appeared in 1971 as an insert in New York magazine...

, the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

, the Village Voice, USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, USA Weekend

USA Weekend

USA Weekend is a national publication distributed through more than 800+ newspapers in the United States. It reaches 47 million readers in 22.6 million households every weekend. Awarded for its journalism and design, USA WEEKEND focuses on social issues, entertainment, health, food and travel....

, and msnbc.com

MSNBC

MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...

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Nelson wrote the autobiographical Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience about her experiences as a black female journalist at the Washington Post. Her next book Straight, No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman, also autobiographical, discussed role models for black women.

Her first work of fiction, Sexual Healing, was published in 2003.

List of works

• Volunteer Slavery: My Authentic Negro Experience 1993. Hardback ISBN 1-879360-24-1; Softback ISBN 0-14-023716-X
• Straight, No Chaser: How I Became A Grown-Up Black Woman. 1997. ISBN 0-14-027724-2
• Editor, Police Brutality: An Anthology. 2000. ISBN 0-393-32163-0
• Sexual Healing. 2003. Hardback ISBN 978-0-9724562-0-3; Softback ISBN 978-0-9724562-5-8
• Finding Martha's Vineyard: African Americans at Home on an Island. 2005. ISBN 0-385-50566-3