We, Black Americans, Need A Free Press

It is World Freedom of the Press Day. In America freedom of the press is secured in the nation’s Constitution, included because the Founding Fathers understood the importance of an informed public. Without information, they concluded the “people” could not make reasonable decisions regarding their government. And they were right.

Look at the state of America today. Misinformation has allowed the 2020 election to be questioned because of flagrant manipulation of the facts by the former president and his minions. Reporters during Donald Trump’s administration were vilified for the express purpose of silencing voices with the influence to tell the truth and tell it to millions.

I am the owner of an African American magazine, TheVillageCelebration. It has been a labor of love for me in honor of the Black community of which I am a member. Far too often, we, as Black Americans, find our narrative co-opted or reduced to a bare bones portrait of who we are. My goal with TheVillageCelebration was to rectify that issue. After a few decades as a news anchor and reporter in several cities, I felt compelled to work diligently telling our stories with input from scholars, historians and others who understand, from their lived experience, the nuances that shape complex American issues while simultaneously extracting and highlighting the specificity of the Black perspective.

Hundreds of years have passed since the first African American newspaper, Freedom’s Journal. John Brown Russwurm and Samuel Cornish were the founders who wrote, “We wish to plead our case.” Of course, they did. We, as a people, have been our storytellers, charged with filling in the blanks and correcting the mistakes when others seek to tell the world who we are. Through the years, Black newspapers have presented our stories – the triumphs and the despair – when there was no other way to get out the truth. The Black Press told America about Emmett Till. The press – Black and white – showed the pictures of segregation and its degradation. And it is still the press – utilizing social media and other technology – to report on police brutality, corruption and other wrongdoing. It is part of the job. But it is the Black Press that will cleave to the narratives of its people.

TheVillageCelebration is a little more than 10 years old, and I am hopeful it will age in influence and impact. Thank you for reading our articles and join me as we look for ways to extend our storytelling. A free press is important for the nation, and I dare say, even more so for those of us who are too well-acquainted with injustice and misperceptions.