Community Effort Helps Honor Ed Bradley Philadelphia Style
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Members of the CBS 60 Minutes team joined students, community members and others from the Philadelphia area to help paint the legacy of late, CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley.
The Ed Bradley Mural will go up in the Belmont section of West Philadelphia not far from where Bradley grew up.
Thirty students from three local schools, St. Ignatius School, Blankenburg School, the Philadelphia Learning Academy as well as Mural Arts staffers joined individuals from Bradley's Alma Mater, Cheyney University, on a trip to the CBS Broadcast Center in New York.
"He's as close to Walter Cronkite as you can get because he possessed a level of credibility that he earned over many years," Jeff Fager, executive producer of 60 Minutes, told students. "Ed was an amazing man and a wonderful human being."
Legendary Journalist Ed Bradley To Be Honored With West Philly Mural
Fager joined correspondents Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker and others from Bradley's 60 Minutes team as they too joined students to help paint panels of the Bradley mural that will be unveiled this fall.
The mural will feature a large portrait of Ed Bradley surrounded by some of his his favorite moments at work.
Patricia Blanchet, Bradley's widow, helped guide muralist Ernel Martinez in determining which of the 500 stories that he worked on would be depicted.
"You'll see Ed interviewing Lena Horne, one of his favorite interviews," she said. "You'll see Ed with Muhammad Ali....it is meant to lend aspiration and inspiration for our young generation."
Photos: Mural Arts Philadelphia Honors CBS News Journalist Ed Bradley
Student Nyleemah White-Bond says she believes she could be the next Ed Bradley.
"I am inspired," she says, noting that she would like to pursue journalism.
LeRoy McCarthy, a Cheyney alum who started the effort to get the Bradley Mural was on hand.
"He inspired me," says McCarthy, who notes that Bradley spoke at his college graduation, "so I wanted to make sure he would be remembered."
The Mural will be unveiled in the fall. It is sponsored by Mural Arts Philadelphia, CBS3 and CBS News.
The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists and Cheyney University join the effort as partners. A community paint day is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m to 1 in the afternoon.
