Page 10 The Skanner April 26, 2017
News
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire
F
or 190 years, the
Black Press has
chronicled the spirit
and resilience of the
African American com-
munity.
“You can see it in the
spirit of the process that
we have [developed] in
documenting our histo-
ry — we are marvelous-
ly resilient by nature,
we are street fighters,
guerilla fighters and re-
silience defines us,” said
NNPA Foundation Board
Chairman Al McFarland.
The National News-
paper Publishers Asso-
ciation (NNPA), a trade
group of more than 200
Black-owned
media
companies in the Unit-
ed States, also known
as the voice of the Black
community, has been
the repository of Black
history for generations,
capturing that spirit and
resilience through com-
pelling journalism and
Obituary: Henry Knight
September 14, 1924 - April 19, 2017
H
enry Knight was
born September
14, 1924 in Col-
bert, Oklahoma
and passed away April
19, 2017 in Portland, Or-
egon.
Henry leaves to cher-
ish his memory, sisters,
Roberta Jackson, and
Rosie Hughes; brother,
Jordan K. Knight (Jean);
special friend Margue-
rite Moore; niece, Ola
Mackey; nephew, A.W.
Williams (Louise); God
daughter, Sharon Hen-
nessee; and a multitude
of nieces, nephews and
friends.
There will be a public
viewing held on May 1,
2017 from 4pm to 7pm
at Terry Family Fu-
neral Home followed
by a public viewing
May 2, 2017 from 9:30
Henry Knight
am to 10:30 am at Van-
couver Avenue First
Baptist Church. Funer-
al Service will start at
10:30 am at Vancouver
Avenue First Baptist
Church.
For more informa-
tion see terryfamilyfu-
neralhome.com or call
(503) 249-1788.
stirring images.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis,
the president and CEO
of the NNPA, said that
the strength of the Black
Press has been widely
demonstrated through
decades of change.
“Since 1827, the Black
Press in America has
been on the frontline of
publishing in the inter-
ests of freedom and jus-
tice,” Chavis said. “Today,
the NNPA continues to
represent the resilient,
trustworthy
tradition
of the Black Press that is
indispensable to Black
America.”
Janice Ware, the pub-
lisher of the “Atlanta
Voice,” which was found-
ed in 1966 by Ed Clayton
and J. Lowell Ware, said
that like other NNPA
member newspapers, the
Voice had a defined vi-
sion and mission.
“[The Atlanta Voice]
has been the vehicle that
has allowed the import-
ant information [affect-
ing African-Americans]
to be captured,” Ware
said. “I celebrate my
father for his vision to
start the publication and
our motto, which is, ‘A
people without a voice
cannot be heard.’”
The
venerable,
award-winning
publi-
cation was born out of
the refusal of the White-
owned majority Atlanta
media to give fair and
credible coverage to the
burgeoning Civil Rights
Movement, the Voice
TRAVIS RIDDICK/NNPA
The Black Press Shows Resilience of the Black Community
A display wall showcases the front pages of the nation’s Black newspapers.
states on its website.
“Our motto is still prev-
alent today,” Ware said.
“We’ve got to record our
history; if we don’t, they
will.”
As the media industry
continues to evolve, driv-
en by advances in tech-
nology, Black newspa-
per publishers balance
“click-bait” and quick-
“
stream media ignores or
underplays,” Perry said.
“The Black Press cannot
afford to be silent or not
be certain to get the word
out about them, whether
it’s voter suppression or
police misconduct and
brutality.”
In 1973, Howard Uni-
versity, a historical-
ly Black institution in
We’ve got to record our his-
tory; if we don’t, they will
read content with longer,
in-depth news articles.
Rosetta Perry, pub-
lisher of the “Tennessee
Tribune” in Nashville,
said that even though
millennials aren’t read-
ing traditional news-
papers as much as past
generations, news or-
ganizations in the Black
community — including
newspapers, radio sta-
tions, magazines and
websites — are working
together to ensure that
critical information con-
tinues to reach the mass-
es.
“There are many sto-
ries about Black people
both domestic and inter-
national that the main-
Washington, D.C., collab-
orated with the NNPA, to
establish the Black Press
Archives at the school’s
Moorland-Spingarn Re-
search Center.
The archives also in-
clude a gallery of dis-
tinguished newspaper
publishers and histori-
cal records related to the
Black Press.
Black newspapers are
also collected and pre-
served there for schol-
ars, students and the
public.
“While some think
that the Black Press is
no longer needed, they
need only to look at the
newsrooms of the main-
stream press — newspa-
per and television — and
see that when pressured
after the Civil Rights
Movement, they hired
more Blacks,” in the past
than they do now said
Dorothy Leavell, the
outspoken publisher of
the award-winning Cru-
sader newspapers in the
Chicago area.
Leavell
continued:
“And, most said the Black
Press wasn’t needed.
While they were em-
ployed, the Black report-
ers were not given the
freedom to report sto-
ries as they existed, often
White editors changed
the story with headlines
that fit their perspective,
not the essence of the sto-
ry, if some of them rec-
ognized their stories as
submitted, it was rare.”
Leavell said that when
Black reporters were
making good salaries
at mainstream media
outlets, they mostly re-
mained silent. Many now
want to speak up as their
numbers are dwindling.
“The Black Press is
driven by a purpose and
a mission to tell the truth
and to stand up to those
who would rob humanity
of its fullness,” McFar-
land said.