Newsday columnist Joye Brown to receive NAACP LI Region's Delano Stewart Journalism Award

Newsday columnist Joye Brown has been named the 2020 recipient of the Delano Stewart Journalism Award by the NAACP Long Island Region.

Brown is the second person to receive the award, for excellence in community service journalism. It is named for Delano Stewart, a Wyandanch activist who founded and published the weekly newspaper Point of View that addressed racial issues affecting Wyandanch residents. Stewart died in 2017.

“We are so proud that Joye is being honored,” Newsday Editor Deborah Henley said. “Since joining Newsday in 1983, Joye’s journalism — as a reporter, editor, editorial writer and columnist — has been distinguished and meaningful.”

Henley said Brown has wielded an editorial megaphone in the same tradition as Stewart.

“She shares her deep understanding of our community’s issues and ensures that the voices of Long Islanders are heard,” Henley said. “And Joye has imparted that knowledge to colleagues, serving as a mentor to many journalists, me among them.”

Tracey Edwards, NAACP Long Island regional director, called Brown "a champion for all communities and all people."

"Joye is forthright in discussing how events affect minority communities (and) pays attention to the details and the importance of getting it right," Edwards added.

Brown said Stewart was one of the first people she met when she came to Newsday.

“He ran a good local community newspaper, and his passion about journalism and community was kind of intertwined, and it’s something he never gave up,” Brown said.

Brown said she’s tried to delve deeply into Long Island in a way that reflects what Stewart wanted to do for his community.

“To have my name and his name mentioned in the same sentence is something I find extraordinary,” Brown said.

The award will be presented to Brown at the NACCP LI Region’s luncheon on Feb. 29 at noon at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.