COMMENTARY: The Job of the Black-Owned Press is to Educate, Enlighten, Inform and If We Have Time, Entertain

The archetypal clip I heard the names Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, and astir their monumental publication to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was portion watching the movie “Hidden Figures”. Jackson, Johnson and Vaughan were mathematicians and, successful the lawsuit of Jackson, the archetypal Black pistillate technologist successful the past of NASA. These were not conscionable “Hidden Figures,” they were phenomenal women. Phenomenal Black women. The movie debuted successful 2016 and was directed by Theodore Melfi. The screenplay was co-written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. Both white. However, they were not the archetypal to archer this story, acold from it. The Norfolk Journal and Guide, a Black female-owned paper (Brenda Andrews, Publisher) that is successful its 121st twelvemonth of existence, published a May 1942 story, “Paving the Way for Women Engineers,” introducing the trio to section readers successful southeastern Virginia, and aboriginal the world. In September 2016, writer Margot Lee Shutterly wrote the book, Hidden Figures that inspired the film.

Do you cognize who Vivien Thomas was? He passed distant successful 1985, but not earlier helping pioneer open-heart country portion a surgical probe adjunct astatine Vanderbilt University and aboriginal astatine Johns Hopkins University. As laboratory manager astatine Johns Hopkins, Thomas would spell connected to amended thousands of aboriginal doctors successful the process. A 2004 movie astir Thomas’ beingness and work, starring Mos Def and Gabriel Union, titled “Like Something the Lord Made,” focuses connected his emergence from cleaning labs to assisting the precocious Dr. Alfred Blaylock with the first “Blue Baby” surgery. A 1989 illustration communicative in Washingtonian magazine was the catalyst for the film. Both the publication and the mag communicative were written by achromatic people.

The Black-owned Press besides had that story, and it’s arsenic important contiguous arsenic it was erstwhile the Chicago Defender had to beryllium snuck onto rider trains heading southbound from Chicago by Black Pullman porters during the 1920’s, oregon when The Black Panther Newspaper made its mode from the presses astatine the Black Panther Party office successful Oakland to cities each astir the satellite during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s.

The guile and fearlessness it took for Jet mag publisher John H. Johnson to springiness the go-ahead to people the unfastened casket ceremonial photographs of 14-year-old Emmett Till following his execution successful Money, Mississippi by Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam successful 1955, is the benignant of forward-facing journalism that makes the Black-owned property great. The screen of the September 15, 1955 Jet mag is considered a seminal infinitesimal successful the Civil Rights Movement. The aforesaid could beryllium said for the Black Lives Matter sum successful Black-owned publications, including the 10 collaborating connected the Word In Black project. The satellite saw the photos, work the stories and learned the names of radical wrong the communities we serve.

With everything from the coronavirus pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement to eviction moratoriums, there’s truthful overmuch news, a work tin beryllium forgiven for not making 1 happening oregon different their apical priority. That said, we inactive indispensable support our eyes connected the prize and that is being contiguous and prepared to beryllium the 1 to archer the satellite our stories.

For much than 56 years, The Atlanta Voice has been arrogant to beryllium metropolitan Atlanta’s astir wide work Black-owned newspaper. I judge this is simply a testament to our unsocial narration with those we service and study on: Black Georgians. As 1 of the largest Black-owned newspapers successful Georgia, I judge it’s our work to archer the stories – bully oregon atrocious – that bespeak the lives of Black Americans. I judge successful the Black-owned press. It’s the bequest of my precocious father, J. Lowell Ware, and it volition 1 time beryllium my own. Remaining a root of accusation for our radical – some online and successful people – is imperative. There should nary longer beryllium “Hidden Figures” wrong the Black community, it is our grant and work to chronicle our history. Our motto is arsenic applicable contiguous arsenic it was erstwhile it was coined astir six decades ago: “A People Without A Voice Cannot Be Heard.”

This nonfiction was primitively published by Word successful Black. Sign up for our newsletter with Word successful Black.