The Gantt Report
By Lucius Gantt
I want to personally thank all the readers and supporters of The Gantt Report and also the newspapers and internet sites around the world that chose to run or publish this column.
Opinion writing is hard. I’ve been using the skills God blessed me with since the age of 19-years-old to inform people of African descent.
Most columnists don’t even try to write columns every week. They write for a short period and suddenly disappear.
Let me ask you a question. Is your favorite columnist frivolous or serious? I honestly don’t know about most columnists because I rarely read the work of other editorial columnists.
Speaking about myself, The Gantt Report is as serious as a heart attack! Why? It is because Black people in America, in Africa, in South America, in the Caribbean, and in most other parts of the world continue to face serious problems and dangerous consequences.
If you want bread, you might go to a baker. If you need car repairs, it will behoove you to see a mechanic. If you want the truth, I hope you go to a truth-teller.
Black media owners and Black media writers were once in the forefront of truth-telling. “Freedom’s Journal” publishers Samuel Cornish and John Russworm will always be remembered for standing up and speaking out about the oppression, exploitation, and mistreatment of people of color.
If you don’t know, Black columnists that appear in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal, Miami Times enjoy mentioning Black Wall Street and Rosewood massacres, but they think it will be offensive to their white employers if they mention that fact that it was the Black press that first reported on atrocities in Black and African communities.
It was The Negro World, The Pittsburg Courier, The Atlanta World, Chicago Defender, and other Black newspapers that pleaded for our causes.
It was Ebony and Jet Magazine that published pictures of the brutal beating that resulted in the death of Emmett Till, not the imperialist press.
Today, Black media companies suggest that writers who are truth-tellers have no “value”. In fact, no Black media professionals have value.
If an opinion writer for any newspaper gets 200 hits on newspaper internet sites, believe me, it is a decent day.
Well, The Gantt Report columns have gotten over 200,000 internet hits on multiple occasions. That number is far more than what Black media companies get on most days.
So, where do most columns in Black-owned newspapers come from? Most Black papers run columns gotten from The National Newspaper Publishers Association and that is why most Black newspaper editorial columns look exactly alike.
Name some of the NNPA columnists. You should be able to because staff NNPA writers get paid decent salaries. Ben Chavis, Jesse Jackson, Michael Wilbon, and a few white columnists can all be found on the NNPA website.
The managers, staff, and NNPA Board of Directors know who the best, most provocative, and most dependable columnists are but truth-tellers are thought to be undesired by white advertisers and white public officials.
That’s historically ignorant. When the slavery day masters and the modern-day descendants of slave masters want something important done, they won’t seek help from today’s house negroes, just like in the past, in times of trouble white folks in charge will look to utilize modern-day Mandingoes, the fiercest, most combative, and fearless warriors on the modern-day plantations!
Gantt Report haters are quick to say Lucius “hates” white people because he writes columns about the evil and wicked actions committed by people of all races, creeds, and colors.
Well, TGR readers know The Gantt Report has never been sued for libel or slander in more than 50 years of opinion writing. Perhaps The Gantt Report is writing the truth.
At the end of the day, all Blacks in the media, and all Blacks in the community have a role in bringing about Black community progress.
I’ve been trying to raise money to start a school to teach Black people who are interested in media how to become media professionals. The main thing people need to know is how to write. Everything media starts with writing, news, sports, weather, advertising, marketing and promotion, and editorial writing.
Sometimes colonized people take on the values and morals of the colonizers.
However, Black Lives Matter, and Black opinion columns matter.
Bowing down and buck-dancing for politicians and other power brokers is not the way to get Black power and influence. If you want to get respect from people like Joe Biden, don’t sell your soul, donate a million dollars to his reelection campaign.
And, keep standing up, speaking out, and telling the truth.
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