Last week, Howard’s Moorland-Spingarn Center partnered with the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to host their annual Black Press Day event and to present their new digital Black Press Archives experience.
Among the speakers at the gala included Karen Carter Richards, the current NNPA fund chair, Benjamin Chavis, president of the NNPA and Benjamin Talton, the director of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center.
A common theme presented by the majority of the speakers was the importance of honoring the legacy of the Black press for its role in the community and the legacy that it has cemented for future generations of storytellers. According to Chavis, the NNPA is composed of over 250 Black-owned media companies that include newspapers, multimedia, social media and other mediums for storytelling.
In his speech, Chavis addressed the current state of the Black press, with one major issue he presented being the absence of Black-owned media organizations in the White House Correspondents Association until last year.
With the proceedings of the current presidential administration, Talton emphasized the need for the Black press to combat political ideologies that can cause harm to the Black community.
He recalled a conversation he had with a colleague from South Africa who told him during former President George H.W. Bush’s administration, “I fear for you Americans because you don’t know what fascism looks like, so when fascism comes you won’t recognize it.”
After reflecting on the arrest and extradition of pro-Palestinian protestor Mahmoud Khalil, who was removed from his New York residence to a Louisiana detention center by ICE, Talton said, “Fascism is here now.”
Fascism, as defined by According to the Council on Foreign Relations, is a mass political movement that emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism and the supremacy of the nation over the individual.
Public figures, including John Kelly, President Trump’s former chief of staff, and Vice President Kamala Harris, called President Trump a fascist, contributing to the conversation about facism and its presence in the modern political climate.
Talton continued, “The Black press is more important now than ever, you all are doing the most important work in America.” In discussing the role of Moorland-Spingarn he stated that Black Press is doing the work, but the center is “Doing the work in preserving that work.”
Moving into year five of Moorland Springarn’s Black Press Digitization Project, Talton discussed the importance of equitable access so that readers can view the archives from any location.
Additionally, he talked about the necessity of preserving smaller Black-owned newspapers that are often overlooked.
Similarly, Bobby R. Henry Sr., the NNPA chair, spoke about how the Black press must continue to uphold truth and resilience while adapting to future challenges.
“The Black press must continue to be the voice where others remain silent,” he said on the topic of the pioneers who have paved the way.
Henry added that the publishers honored in the room were “more than just storytellers, they were guardians of history, fearless in their pursuit and unwavering in their service to our people.”
One of the guardians specifically honored this year was William H. Lee, the founder of the Sacramento Observer. Lee, who died in 2019, was inducted into the NNPA’s Gallery of Distinguished Publishers during the event. Historically, the Observer has garnered an esteemed reputation, being recognized as “The Nation’s Best Black Newspaper” by the NNPA seven times.
In addition to establishing the Observer, Lee also served on the board of Blue Cross California and was appointed by former California governor George Deukmejian to chair the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday committee.
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
