September 28, 2025
The Bay Area news icon, first Black woman on West Coast TV, leaves behind a legacy of courage and trailblazing reporting.
Belva Davis, the first Black woman to work as a television reporter on the West Coast, has died at age 92. Her long career transformed local journalism and created opportunities for countless reporters who followed in her footsteps.
As reported by The Guardian, Davis was born in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1932, the oldest of four children in a family living through the hardships of the Depression and segregation. Her family later moved to California’s East Bay as part of the Second Great Migration during World War II. Without the advantage of a college degree, Davis entered journalism through perseverance and determination, eventually becoming a leading presence on television screens across the Bay Area.
She worked at KPIX, KRON, and later KQED, where she anchored KQED Newsroom and This Week in Northern California. She remained on the air until her retirement in 2012.
“Belva’s passing is a great loss for the Bay Area and KQED,” said Michael Isip, the station’s president and CEO. “For half a century she covered the region’s most indelible stories with courage, integrity, grace and humanity. Along the way she fearlessly broke down barriers and opened doors for a generation of reporters.”
Notorious attorney Ben Crump took to X to give his condolences and pay his respects to her legacy.
Carla Marinucci, a longtime political journalist who frequently appeared on Davis’s program, remembered her as both a role model and supporter. “She took many of us under her wing. An entire generation of us, myself included, have Belva to thank for breaking down barriers and for giving us a hand,” Marinucci said.
Over the decades, Davis reported on landmark moments such as the assassination of Harvey Milk, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and major political campaigns. Her interviews included conversations with public figures like Muhammad Ali, Coretta Scott King, Fidel Castro, and later, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Oakland Congresswoman Barbara Lee reflected on her legacy: “She opened doors that had long been closed, proving through her talent and perseverance that our voices belonged on the airwaves. She made it possible for a new generation of journalists to see themselves in all forms of media and to know they had a place in shaping public conversation.”
Her memoir, “Never in My Wildest Dreams: A Black Woman’s Life in Journalism,” described her resilience in the face of racism and sexism. Recalling the hostility she encountered at the 1964 Republican National Convention, she wrote, “I could feel the hair rising on the back of my neck as I looked into faces turned scarlet and sweaty by heat and hostility.”
Davis received eight regional Emmy Awards and lifetime achievement recognition from the National Association of Black Journalists and American Women in Radio and Television. She is survived by her husband, Bill Moore, a pioneering Black cameraman, as well as her two children, Darolyn and Steven, from a previous marriage.
Looking back on her work, Davis once wrote, “I wanted to broadcast the reality of my community to those who could not otherwise imagine it.” For generations of viewers and young reporters, she accomplished exactly that.
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