{ our cover story } BY CHERYL KATES-BENMAN I PHOTOS BY LUSH LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY
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we are our brot
The Unspoken Word Leads To The Truth. As a fellow fashionista, I don’t know if I was To speak with her about more impressed with Lynette Adams in her Lynette impressed even me by the her job as a News 10-NBC genuine and thoughtful answer; news reporter and anchor choice of her outfit which was fantabulous or “One story can ruin someone’s life. was fascinating. With each These aren’t just words”. To recognize bat of her eyes, the sparkle the unrushed 4 hour interview and lunch we the responsibility a journalist has shone through someone shared. One truth rang throughout: Lynette to report the truth and know often who is hedonistically content at times the truth may not always with the place she created Adams is real and she genuinely cares about set everyone free becomes a large for herself as a journalist. burden to bear. To be objective at Let’s face it, Lynette Adams her community. Some of us drag ourselves to all times, fair, unbiased despite the is a woman who has been personal feelings one has is not an reporting live through our work every day clocking in hoping the day easy thing to do. televisions for the past 25 quickly passes until it’s clock out time. We do years, in the limelight, as a Rochester, New York was not always local celebrity. This wasn’t this day-in and day-out because we’re adults the place Lynette called home. She my first time sitting down is actually a Syracuse native. At age with Ms. Adams, except and we need our paycheck on Friday to do 14, Lynette left Central New York the last time she was the begin schooling just outside of the adult thing, pay bills. Only a select few of toPhiladelphia interviewer asking me about at a historically black local parolee issues, so I us love what we do, look forward to going to boarding academy for young men already knew what I am and women. It is here that she now sharing with you. This work, and use our work to help people. Lynette began to develop her sense of self is definitely a woman who as an African-American and as a cares about our community. Adams is definitely one of those people. woman and developed some of So often, as Americans we sit glued to our televisions nightly after dinner begging for entertainment. A pretty face, well-dressed to a T, gorgeous smile, upto-date hair styles, and flawless make-up; a small fraction of the true essence of Lynette Adams, a wife, mother, pioneer, an activist, a role model for youth and a phenomenal woman. Lynette hits the streets in the sun, rain and snow, on location, in the trenches and often at less than pleasurable locations dealing with highly emotional issues. Not everyone is someone she likes and just some are people you work to move mountains for. She is often first on the scene, capturing the moments, the raw emotions and the first
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look at things we need to know about what’s happening in our community. Sometimes it’s paying tribute to someone who deserves recognition for their courage, commitment and work in the community and other times it is to capture the grief of a mother who lost her child to senseless violence. All day, every day it is something important Lynette shares with all of us. She goes beyond and in every report she gives, she gives a little piece of herself. When asked: “What is the most important aspect of being a reporter in the Rochester community?”
the skills and characteristics that she uses in her job every day, like recognizing the need for assertiveness; a deepseeded self-confidence and an unrelenting urge to seek the truth. She has also experienced the ugly face of racism and remembers waking up to crosses burning on the front lawn of her school campus.
After graduating, Lynette left the east coast altogether settling in for her next four years in Huntsville, Alabama, again attending an HBC (historically black college). Lynette wanted to be a lawyer, the voice for the underdog. After three years of school, however, Lynette decided she no longer wanted to be in school. She majored in communications and then added business