Amaka Ubaka knows that one story can change the world.
In 2015, she first gained national attention with her exclusive interview of an Orlando woman removed from her flight for refusing to check her breast pump. The coverage led U.S. Airways to reclassify breast pumps as medically necessary devices exempt from carry-on restrictions.
Ubaka was only five years into her career and just getting started.
The daughter of a Nigerian immigrant father and African American mother, Ubaka grew up believing no dream was too big. Hers was to become a reporter.
A Florida native, Ubaka enrolled at the University of Miami School of Communication, drawn by its journalism program and diverse student body.
As a first-year student, she auditioned for UMTV, the University’s award-winning, student-run television station. She was one of two first-years chosen to anchor. The other was Andrea Linares, later a two-time Emmy-nominated journalist.
“That was my first inkling that I must have some potential, and that I might be on to something,” she said.
Her first internship at WFSU Radio in Tallahassee introduced her to Elizabeth Holifield, an accomplished Black journalist with signature dreads and her own radio segment.
“Dr. Holifield showed me that my thoughts, my opinions about the world, and, ultimately, my voice mattered,” Ubaka said. “I drew confidence from that, and it affected the way I held myself and showed up in all areas of my life.”
After graduating in 2009, Ubaka packed her car and drove across the country to begin her career with KRCR in Redding, California.
“I was a multimedia journalist, meaning I had to come up with the story idea, write it, shoot it, edit it, and then go live,” she said. “I was doing it all. It was a tough job, but I was getting my feet wet.”
Her next stop was WOWT, the NBC affiliate in Omaha, Nebraska.
“In Omaha I had more help—I worked with a videographer and didn’t have to cut all my packages, but I also had editors scrutinizing my work and helping me to become a better writer and storyteller,” she said. “It was also the first place that I’d ever seen snow, and I was the one reporting on it!”
By 2013, Ubaka had joined WKMG News 6 in Orlando, where she covered major national stories, including the exclusive feature with the woman whose breast pump case ultimately changed U.S. Airways policy.
After two-and-a-half years, she made the difficult decision to break her television contract early.
“In television, that’s a big no-no,” she said. “But I just needed a break.”
Years of an unending news cycle, demanding workload, and stress had taken their toll. Ubaka left the news for an office job.
After a few months, however, it became impossible to ignore her calling.
“If you love the job, you love telling stories, you love the impact of those stories, your drive to tell those stories will always win,” she said. “People had told me that it would never work, that I had broken a contract, that I couldn’t get back into TV. I heard all kinds of things. But I write my own story, and I was determined to do it.”
Ubaka hired a television agent and soon landed an anchor position at WHDH-TV in Boston.
“I hadn't met anyone that had actually done it, until I did it,” she said.
In 2022, Ubaka reported on two Black sisters who were repeatedly disciplined by their school for wearing their hair in braids. Their story helped inspire the passage of the CROWN Act (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) in Massachusetts, which prohibits race-based hair discrimination in workplaces and public schools.
“I was there when Governor Baker signed it into law, and watching Mya and Deanna Cook advocate for themselves inspired me to feel more comfortable in my own skin and show up 100 percent as myself at work,” she said. “I decided to wear braids on television for the first time in my entire career.”
The viewer response surprised her.
“I received so many emails from Black and brown women, little Black girls, Black doctors and nurses, people saying that seeing me, a brown-skinned woman coming out on TV unapologetically and exactly who she is, made them feel more comfortable to be themselves,” she said. “I had no idea that my choice would have that kind of impact.”
As her career continued to evolve, the stories started to feel more personal, more meaningful to her community.
In 2022, Ubaka developed a series of stories encouraging people of color to join the National Marrow Donor Program registry.
She reported that Black patients have a 29 percent chance of finding a match on the registry, as compared to white patients who have a 79 percent likelihood of finding a match.
“Local hospitals were telling me that many Black and brown people were suffering unnecessarily, or even dying, because they couldn’t receive transplants from matching donors with a similar ethnic background,” she said.
Ubaka ended the segment by documenting herself enrolling in the registry with a simple cheek swab and encouraging viewers to do the same.
Her work has received widespread recognition, earning her the title of “Best News Anchor” by Boston Business Women and a spot on Boston magazine’s 100 Most Influential Bostonians list.
If she could speak with her younger self, excited to receive that first assignment with UMTV, she would tell her to enjoy the process of chasing her dreams and turning them into a reality.
“Enjoy the friendships, the nights out in Coconut Grove, and the days studying on campus,” she said. “Slow down and enjoy it—and don’t be afraid to make mistakes because those can be your most powerful lessons.”
