40-year member brings ‘red card pledge’ to NABJ

By Tyree Stovall

On the 40th anniversary of his NABJ membership, Dr. Djibril Diallo came to Chicago on a mission to spread the message of his latest humanitarian initiative, the Red Card Pledge. The project seeks to end all forms of discrimination and violence in the world against women and girls. 

When soccer penalties are given to players by referees, red cards are lifted and presented, and the players face immediate consequences. In this context, Diallo uses raised red cards to draw attention to violence and discrimination against women and girls everywhere.

The Red Card Campaign was launched by the United Nations in March 2020. Diallo has been involved in the effort for years and this year he has been all over NABJ’s Chicago convention, posing with members holding up red cards that symbolize the campaign. 

He was inspired to take up the cause by his love for his mother. She raised him after his father died when he was just 11 years old.

“What I’ve learned from my mother has inspired a lot of respect that I have for women,” he said.

“This is a male-dominated and fractured world, where the equal, inalienable rights of women have been traditionally underrepresented.” 

A native of Senegal, Africa, Diallo has long worked with NABJ as president and chief executive director of the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network, an organization whose objective is to strengthen the ties between Africa and people of African descent. He was involved in the first-ever panel discussion between Africa and NABJ and has collaborated with NABJ to send members on trips to the continent. 

He also has partnered with global organizations, including the United Nations, where he served as director of the UN New York Office of Sports for Development and Peace, and FIFA, the largest sports organization in the world.

Diallo said that his goal in attending conventions and working with NABJ “is to make sure that the issues important to Africa are brought to mind” by Black journalists.

Two years ago, Diallo was given the NABJ’s Founders’ Appreciation Award to commemorate his service to the organization since 1984, contributing to the training of members in global affairs and strengthening ties with the media in Africa and with the United Nations.

NABJ co-founder Joe Davidson said he nominated Diallo, “in large part because of everything he’s done to encourage Black journalists in the United States to become more involved and more familiar and more knowledgeable about Africa.”