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The following is a transcript of the video shown below featuring King and Byron Allen at the latter’s “A Seat At The Table” gala.
After the White House’s Correspondents’ Dinner, CBS News Reporter Gayle King was awarded the Journalist Icon Award at Byron Allen’s Washington D.C. gala, “A Seat At The Table.”
Byron Allen [00:00:07] And now CNN. And with this, we want to give you theGrio Journalist Icon Award. And everybody on this stage owes you a huge debt of gratitude. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I’m sorry it took so damn long introducing everyone. But you’ve been doing so much damn work. Love you. We’ll hold this for you, while you speak.
Gayle King [00:00:38] Honest to God, I don’t feel like an icon. I still feel that I’m growing, that I’m still learning, that there’s still so much to do. I really do see myself as a storyteller. And I stand before you at 68-years-old. Walter Cronkite, listen to this, Walter Cronkite had to retire from CBS at 65. He had to retire at 65. He didn’t have a choice. I’m not even kinda thinking about retiring. Not even kinda. I’m looking for more work, Byron. I’m looking for more.
King [00:01:11] So I don’t see myself as an icon. You know, the word “griot” means storyteller. I really do see myself as a storyteller. That’s what I’ve always been. I was a very, I like to say, inquisitive or curious, but I was told I was a very nosy kid. That’s what I was told. I find that insulting. And so when you think of “griot”, an icon and being in this place, it’s a perfect place to receive this award tonight because that’s all this building is. It’s about storytelling and truth and so many stories as we know were told here. We’re living in a world, we all know this, where mass shootings are multiplying, the world is struggling, racism is on the rise and civility is in the downfall. So my colleagues and I try to do everything we can to tell the truth. Not my truth, not your truth, but the truth. You’re welcome.
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