By Promise Eze
Toluse Olorunnipa, co-author of a book about one of Minnesota’s greatest tragedies and drivers for change, is the newest winner of a Pulitzer Prize.
“His Name is George Floyd” chronicles the legacy of the man murdered by Minneapolis police officers back in 2020.
Written by Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, it follows Floyd’s life in the context of systemic racism and how his death sparked a global movement for justice and change.
The book won the 2023 Pulitzer for best nonfiction.
Former MPD officer Derek Chauvin — who held his knee down on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes as shown in a Facebook Live video that quickly spread worldwide — was convicted on two state murder charges and a manslaughter charge in April of 2021 and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. Chauvin appealed his conviction, but it was upheld by the Minnesota Court of Appeals last month.
Toluse “Tolu” Olorunnipa is the White House Bureau Chief of The Washington Post, and the co-author of “His Name is George Floyd.”
He joined The Post in 2019 and has covered the last three presidents. Previously, he spent five years at Bloomberg News, where he reported on politics and policy from Washington and Florida.
Olorunnipa reported from five continents and more than 20 countries as part of the presidential press corps. He started his career at the Miami Herald, where he covered real estate, natural disasters and crime — sometimes all at once.
Looks like another Nigerian has won a Pulitzer.
Congratulations to Toluse Olorunnipa @ToluseO 🙌💪 pic.twitter.com/Mwq4OeJ03C
— The Great Abisola (@AbisolaAlawode) May 9, 2023
