Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.

That was the spirit I carried as a young Black journalist in San Francisco, searching for direction. And it was Belva Davis — the woman who became the first Black female television reporter on the West Coast — who showed me that growth in this field meant courage.

When I learned of Belva’s passing, I cried for two days. Every time I opened my phone, another tribute appeared — another announcement, another video. But one image cut through them all: Belva riding in a cage to the top of Sutro Tower as it neared completion, reporting for KPIX from 700 feet in the sky.

That was Belva. Fearless. Unshakable. Rising.

How we met

I was working at 1300 on Fillmore when the neighborhood was buzzing — Yoshi’s Jazz Club next door; Black excellence walking t

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