by Christopher Young
America has never truly or fully stopped viewing and treating some Americans differently than others based on the color of their skin.
Today, we watch a large segment of America’s White majority, estimated by the Census Bureau at 56.3 percent, cling to the red, white and blue as if it were theirs alone. They use words like heritage, patriot, post-racial and merit to support their beliefs and behaviors—always endeavoring throughout our history to elevate themselves while diminishing the relevance, voice and culture of those who truly built America but do not look like them.
Enter the Black Press—Soldiers Without Swords. A collective of media professionals dedicated to the voices of those often diminished in mainstream media. They provide an independent voice to lift Black perspectives, issues and people. They are platforms where Black culture, in all its dimensions, is always heard loud and clear—always on the Cover Page.
A legacy of community journalism
Most African American publishers are organized under the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which currently has more than 200 members. Daily readership is estimated at more than 22 million. These community newspapers deliver critical news, information and commentary relevant to readers, whether in print or online.
Nationwide, more than 40 percent of all newspapers have closed since 2005, predominantly because of ever-increasing production and printing costs, according to The Associated Press. The Black Press, in particular, has been harmed substantially by the anti-diversity, equity and inclusion policies of the Trump administration. Fearing backlash, major corporations have scaled back or eliminated diversity marketing. Amazon, Meta, Google, Disney, Paramount, Pepsi, Warner Bros., Target and Discovery are just a few of those corporations, according to Forbes.
Yet the persistence of the Black Press remains despite the decline of the print newspaper industry. Online readership has consistently grown, and many platforms have successfully transitioned their products to newsletters, podcasts and digital editions.
As the Black Press looks toward celebrating its 200th anniversary next year, it is important to look back on its origins and evolution. In 2009, when the Black Press had been in existence for 182 years, Howard University journalism professor Dr. Clint C. Wilson II shared its history this way:
“In 1827, a group of prominent free African American citizens from states along the Eastern seaboard met in the New York City home of Bostin Crummell to discuss means to communicate their views on the various social, political, and economic issues that commonly confronted them and their respective communities. Although Black citizens utilized the church and social and fraternal organizations as a means of collective expression and dialogue, the usual channels of public media—particularly newspapers—were denied to them. Exacerbating the problem was the fact that elements of the established press routinely denigrated African Americans in print, even to the extent of questioning both the integrity and morality of the entire race.”
Dr. Wilson continued:
“Over the years the list of contributors to the Black Press who have lent their talents as publishers, editors, journalists, columnists, and cartoonists has included the greatest names in American history. Among them are Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells Barnett, Langston Hughes, Romare Bearden, James Weldon Johnson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Daisy Bates.… In 1941, under the urging of John Sengstacke of the Chicago Defender, a meeting of leading Black publishers from across the nation was held in Chicago. Sengstacke said the meeting was designed for ‘harmonizing our energies in a common purpose for the benefit of Negro journalism.’ At least one representative from 22 publications attended the meeting and the group decided to form the National Negro Publishers Association. In 1956, the trade association of the nation’s Black Press was renamed the National Newspaper Publishers Association.”
To the extent that African Americans have increasingly participated in democracy, the Black Press has lit the path. Its origins came 34 years before the Civil War. Beginning during chattel slavery, the Black Press has been there telling the story, showcasing Black truths, achievements, successes and heroism, ensuring African Americans are prominently displayed—always on the Cover Page.
Yes, there are depictions of African Americans in the arts, literature, music, medicine, athletics and humanitarianism throughout America’s mainstream media, but nothing compares with the depth of coverage of Black America found in the pages of the Black Press.
To this day, grandparents and parents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters reach for the scissors. That photo, article about a class reunion, story of a local girl or boy making good and so much more is preserved in the family scrapbook or displayed in a frame on the living room wall.
Looking ahead to 200 years
An altar of freedom and justice for those oppressed in “the land of the free and the home of the brave” surely has the Black Press at its foundation.
As we draw closer to this phenomenal achievement—the 200th anniversary of the Black Press of America—consider how you can support your local community newspapers. Subscribe, advertise, donate, tell a friend or train the next generation through a gift subscription.
And don’t forget to reach out to share your own story and the issues that have affected your community. The Black Press is, and always has been, about you.
(Christopher Young is a frequent contributing writer for The Mississippi Link, an independent, African American-owned newspaper and media company.)
(Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune)
