The Project 2025 Book Club presents an interview of community activist Alan Messinger, by journalist Melba Tolliver.
Alan Messinger’s reason for being civically involved:
“For 38 years, I have dedicated my career to public service. I served 10 ½ years in the military as a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Non-Commissioned Officer, where I saw firsthand the consequences of having the wrong people in positions of responsibility. I then spent 12 years as a letter carrier with the United States Postal Service, serving the American people while safeguarding their trust and personal information. For another 13 years, I worked in the federal government as an Emergency Management Specialist, helping people through the most difficult days of disasters. In 2020, I witnessed the mismanagement of COVID-19 despite the emergency plans developed for such situations. That experience motivated me to become involved in my community, to champion the issues that matter, and promote good government.”
Melba Tolliver reported and anchored news at WABC-TV, WNBC-TV, News 12 Long Island and the Food Channel, in addition to writing for USA TODAY, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, BLACK SPORTS, and other magazines and newspapers. she was host and reporter for the ABC Network series, Americans All; and for several WABC Eyewitness News series, among them, Profiles, People, Places and Things, and Consciousness Rising. She was a writer/producer of “Gordon Parks:Man for All Seasons,” for the WABC public affairs program Like It Is. At WNBC, Tolliver created and hosted the public affairs program Meet the People, Tolliver served as Howard R. Marsh visiting professor of journalism at the University of Michigan and was writer-in-residence at Pratt Institute. She has been recognized with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Molloy College, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists, the John B. Russwurm Award from the New York City Urban League, the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications, and a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to the University of Michigan, where she co-directed Kerner Plus 10, a conference on minorities and the media.
