Page 2 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION February 20, 2019
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Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
BLACK HISTORY MONTH: Two Centuries
of Black History and the Black Press
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Executive Editor
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News Editor
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Opinion
n the March 2018 story,
“Race News: Chronicling
the Black Press and fight
for Justice,”journalist Tony
Pecinovsky noted that the
rocky relationship between
journalism and the struggle
for African-American equali-
ty, like any other courtship, is
full of ebbs and flows, fluctu-
ations that often times mirror
larger societal changes.
“Exploring this relation-
ship, in all its nuance and
complexity, is especially im-
portant today as we try to
discern and understand con-
temporary reality, a reality
the Trump Administration
increasingly attempts to ob-
scure and mystify with its re-
liance on “alternative facts…’
‘…facts’ that oftentimes lack
quantifiable, tangible evi-
dence,” Pecinovsky said.
In that context, he said Fred
Carroll’s book, Race News:
Black Journalists and the Fight
for Racial Justice in the Twen-
tieth Century, is a welcome ad-
“
Stacey M.
Brown
NNPA
Columnist
ganization committed to con-
necting top legal talent of col-
or to local communities and
Brown said the Black Press
plays a large role in telling the
stories of those communities.
She said African Americans
need to honor that.
“We rally to support ath-
letes and artists who are
‘wronged’ by the system but
what we fail to honor is the
voice of the Black Press that
has been capturing our sto-
ries for centuries,” Brown
said.
“Long before Black Twit-
ter and online blogs … and so
the Black Press is not only an
essential voice, but it is also
a historical and cultural ar-
The Black Press is not only an es-
sential voice, but it is also a histor-
ical and cultural archaeological
goldmine that we must preserve
dition to the understanding of
both journalistic and African
American history.
Some historians have right-
ly begun to see the struggle
for African American equal-
ity through the lens of the
“long Civil Rights revolution.”
“Thankfully, Carroll also
sees the role of ‘race news’
through the lens of a long
struggle and notes that ear-
ly twentieth century com-
mercial publishers proudly
traced their lineage back to
Black journalism’s begin-
nings… to its very first news-
paper, Freedom’s Journal,
which was founded in 1827,”
Pecinovsky said.
He also noted that the “Black
news industry was owned,
produced, and consumed pri-
marily independent of White
oversight,” thereby enabling
Black journalists to “package
their mission of ending racial
discrimination and securing
citizenship rights within a
profit-oriented, objective pre-
sentation of current events
designed to cater to the many
interests of the largest possi-
ble Black readership.”
The Black Press remains as
viable as ever.
“The Black Press is an as-
pect of the fabric of the Black
existence in America that is
not getting enough attention
or support from the commu-
nity,” Kisha A. Brown, the
founder and CEO of Justis
Connection, told NNPA News-
wire.
Justis Connection is an or-
chaeological goldmine that
we must preserve.”
One of the oldest Black-
owned business industries in
America, The Black Press be-
gan more than 191 years ago.
On March 16, 1827, the first
edition of “Freedom’s Jour-
nal” was published, thrusting
African Americans into the
bustling publishing business.
At the time, Blacks in Amer-
ica weren’t even considered
“
Black journalism’s first newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, was founded in 1827.
nication between Black peo-
ple.
“Black men and women
were vilified in the New York
press in the 1800s,” Leavell
said.
“Some White newspaper
publishers sought to defend
the dignity, honor and charac-
ter of Black people, however,
Russwurm and Cornish said
they, ‘wish to plead our own
cause.’”
Without the Black Press,
genuine stories of African
Americans would go untold,
Some White newspaper publish-
ers sought to defend the dignity,
honor and character of Black peo-
ple, however, Russwurm and Cor-
nish said they, ‘wish to plead our
own cause’
citizens, most were slaves and
forbidden to read or write.
However, John Russwurm
and Reverend Samuel Cor-
nish rose up bravely, declar-
ing that, “We wish to plead
our own cause. Too long have
others spoken for us.”
Dorothy Leavell, publisher
of the historic “Chicago Cru-
sader” newspaper and Chair-
man of the National Newspa-
per Publishers Association
(NNPA), said in an earlier in-
terview that when Russwurm
and Cornish established the
Black Press by publishing
“Freedom’s Journal,” they
wanted to provide a voice for
Black people.
The Black Press became one
of the only means of commu-
Robert W. Bogle, the publish-
er of the “The Philadelphia
Tribune,” said during a recent
NNPA conference.
Bogle said that only Black
people can tell their stories
accurately. “We are as rele-
vant today as we were when
the ‘Freedom’s Journal’ said
they wanted to tell our story
in our words,” said Bogle.
NNPA, the Black Press of
America, represents more
than 215 African American
owned newspapers and me-
dia companies around the
country with a combined
weekly subscribership of
more than 22 million.
When celebrating the 190th
anniversary of the Black
Press in 2017, NNPA Presi-
dent and CEO Dr. Benjamin
F. Chavis Jr., said that March
16, 2017 is a sacred historical
day in the long, multi-dimen-
sional freedom struggle of
African people in America
and throughout the world, be-
cause of the courage of Russ-
wurm and Cornish who dared
first to publish the “Freedom’s
Journal.”
Chavis said that the Black
Press in America has been on
the frontlines of social change
in the United States for [more
than 190] years. “Today, more
than ever, the Black Press re-
mains the trusted and auda-
cious voice of Black America,”
said Chavis.
“Today, the NNPA continues
this irrepressible tradition
of publishing truth to power.
Our freedom fighting publish-
ers are all united as we reaf-
firm the vital importance and
relevance of the Black Press
now and into the future.”
And, as African Americans
and others observe Black His-
tory Month, Brown said she’d
like to see the Black Press
continue to capture current
events that aren’t borne from
reports done by other media
outlets.
“Tell the story of the Black
entrepreneur. There are so
many people who are recon-
necting with the spirit of our
ancestors to get our own boot-
straps to pull ourselves up
with,” Brown said.
“Black entrepreneurs are
daring to defy the business
norms in an effort to explore
financial freedom and chart
new territory that we can call
our own.”
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