In my 36 years of writing mostly for the Black press, I found the writers and readers share a passion to hear our story from our own voice. As an Alpha member, I take pride in being able to serve my community by writing our story. The current cauldron of Black history misinformation manifests the words of Samuel Cornish. The founder of the first Black paper said “… Too long have the public been deceived by misrepresentations, in things that concern us dearly…”
The reader does not see the hard work /magic behind the scenes for a quality print newspaper and the internet product that tells our story. The writing posts, from California to Florida, showed me the passion that all ranks of the Black press have for an accurate account of Black lives. Maya Angelou wrote, “The more you know your history, the more liberated you are.” This clip captures what writing for the Black press means for me. – Don Valentine