Black Press Day Celebrates 198 Years of African American Publishing

Publishers, journalists, media and advertising specialists, and local leaders gathered at Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library on March 13 for Black Press Day, in celebration of the 198 years of African American publishing and storytelling. 

An annual tradition for the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), often called the Black Press of America, the event honored publishers, emphasized the importance of speaking truth to power and offered calls to action in the age of federal and corporate efforts to reverse diversity, equity (DEI) and inclusion programming.

“The Black Press of America continues to plow up the ground with our publications and our applications, both in print and digital. It is our job. It is our calling. It is our legacy. It is our responsibility to fight and advocate for freedom, justice and equality,” said Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., NNPA president and CEO. “We are the trusted voice of Black America, and we won’t give up that trust for anything.”

Under the theme “Where History Meets the Future of Media,” Black Press Day 2025 brought out civic leaders, news enterprises and several publishers of African American owned publications to honor 198 years of championing truth and justice for underserved communities.

Over the course of the all-day event, attendees ranged from the students and alumni of historically Black institutions to the leaders of prominent news institutions, like WHUR-FM, the Center for Journalism and Democracy and the NNPA Fund.

While guests tuned in amid plates of soul food and familial-like greetings, speakers took to the podium to express gratitude for the Black press, and tout its continued legacy as conduits for civic reform and community empowerment.

“In an era when our stories are often marginalized or overlooked, the Black press remains an essential resource amplifying the voices and experiences of Black individuals and communities across the nation,” said NNPA Fund Chair Karen Carter Richards. “As we gather here today, we reflect on the past and strive to understand the crucial role of the Black press in today’s society.”

In Honor of ‘The Shoulders We Stand On‘

Alongside oral histories and digital archives, the enduring impact of the Black press is evident through the 258 print and digital media publications part of the NNPA. 

NNPA Chair Bobby R. Henry Sr. lauded the generational influence of the “fearless” publishers whose leadership has championed the chronicles of history, including Dr. William H. Lee (The Sacramento Observer) and Walter “Ball” Smith of New York Beacon and Philadelphia Observer, both of whom posthumously received NNPA enshrinements at Thursday’s luncheon. 

“The publishers we honor today were more than just storytellers,” Henry pleaded. “They were guardians of history, fearless in their pursuit of truth, unwavering in their service to our people. Their newspapers were battlefields of justice–their words weapons against oppression.” 

Before revealing the enshrinement plaques, Henry, publisher of the Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, assured the histories of the respective publishers would not be forgotten. 

“To all the families, colleagues and the communities of those we honor today, know that their legacy is forever enshrined,” he said, “not just in this ceremony, but in the fabric of our history.”

The late founder of The Sacramento Observer established the California-based newspaper in 1962, whereas Smith tackled the publisher position after he acquired New York Beacon (formerly Big Red) in 1981, and again with Philadelphia Observer in 2006. 

Today, the award-winning publications have championed the instilled spirit of advocacy, inclusion and excellence that their forefathers set in stone with the birth of their publications. 

“[My dad] dedicated his life to the Black Press and passed that sort of commitment to me,” said Larry Lee, current publisher of The Sacramento Observer, as he accepted the enshrinement plaque.  “I love the Black Press, I love our people, and cannot wait to share this and bring this back to our staff, because we know the shoulders that we stand on.”

The honorees joined the club of other revered press leaders, including Washington Informer founder Dr. Calvin Rolark, in the Black Press Archives and NNPA’s Gallery of Distinguished Publishers at Howard University. 

Like The Washington Informer, the 62-year-strong Sacramento Observer has achieved six decades of service and impact, which Lee told The Informer is “part of what gets me up every day.”   

In an interview about The Informer’s legacy, the leader of The Observer noted his admiration for the publication’s Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes. He said he is inspired by her longtime dedication to publishing, having worked closely together as a fellow member of NNPA and Word in Black—a consortium of 10 Black-owned publications founded during the COVID-19 pandemic and height of Black Lives Matter movement.

“Looking at The Informer at 60 years with three generations of veteran leadership within the organization is a tremendous achievement,” said Lee. 

Chavis Delivers State of the Black Press, Researchers Share Archival Work 

The celebratory afternoon also included the NNPA president’s State of the Black Press address. 

In his speech, Chavis nodded to the printed statement on the first edition of Freedom’s Journal: ‘We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us’ — a transparent reminder of Black America’s unshakable progress, yet challenging ways to go.

“We have to continue to plead our own cause, and that cause today includes confronting and challenging the rampant contradictions of the far right who are trying to usher in American fascism,” the civil rights leader declared. “The Black Press of America is needed today more than ever before.”

The impassioned delivery that ended in a standing ovation was more than a reflection of the resilience of the Black Press – it was a call to action to unite Black institutions in the journey to equity and inclusion. With hopes to increase voter turnout, Chavis has called on Black publishers to engage their communities on the employments of civic education, voter registration and engagement in preparation for the 2026 midterm elections. 

In order to achieve this goal – and combat the impending threats against education and diversity from the Trump administration – Chavis, who has a Doctorate in Ministry from Howard University, reminded listeners of the value of uniting among institutions of power, particularly spotlighting Black churches, businesses, and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). 

“We must continue to plow up the ground. We need to plow up Project 2025, we need to plow up racism, anti-semitism, and any other -ism that attempts to deny the oneness of all humanity,” Chavis declared. “It’s not about reacting to oppression, it’s about planning for liberation.”

As a Ph.D student in Howard’s history department, Brandon Nightingale is committed to continuing the important work of HBCUs in preserving Black history. 

Nightingale told the crowd when he’s not researching the origins of the Black Press Archives, he serves as senior project manager of the newspaper coalition, helping to further develop the project that began with Howard University and the NNPA in 1973. 

The joint collaboration was established to safeguard African American newspapers. 

“Before [the Black Press Archives], much of the documentation on Black newspapers was scattered or at risk of being lost,” Nightingale said. “It was not just about collecting newspapers. It was about ensuring that voices, stories and struggles of the Black communities as recorded in the Black press would not be lost to history.”

Now housed at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) at Howard University, Nightingale works alongside a team of individuals in hopes to create use of the digital artifacts as a research tool for printed history. With MSRC undergoing digitization, thanks to a $2 million grant, the goal is to have all of the Black Press archives digitized by 2026. 

“They will preserve your seats folks,” said MSRC program manager Aaron Jacobs on March 13. “Two hundred years of Black journalism, and they’re just getting started.”

Bousaina Ibrahim, who works with Nightingale in the Black Press Archives, emphasized the responsibility of today’s Black storytellers to best serve the interests of future scholars and researchers. The MSRC graduate scholar and Informer contributing writer noted the purpose is not just to uplift the historians of the Black Press, but to ensure a platform where their stories, and others of the Black community, will exist throughout time. 

“The Black journalists and publishers who were committed to their truth are counting on us to archive their work…for the generations to come,” said Ibrahim. “It’s our duty as the next generation to dedicate ourselves to our ancestors and the revolutions found in their reporting.”