Black Press

"Black Press" is Founded in 1827, the nation's first Black newspaper was called Freedom’s Journal and was published in New York City. The newspaper was founded at a time when Blacks were not legally allowed to read but they somehow found a way to publish and distribute a newspaper. In honor and in respect to the struggles of the publishers and their accomplishment, the words Black Press is always title cased.

Denied its true place in history, the pre-Civil War Black Press was a forward looking, socially responsible press. Since then, the Black Press gave birth to American writers like Langston Hughes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Bradley and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tavis_Smiley. Even [Oprah Winfrey]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey is a fan of the Black Press.

Today, the Black Press is widely known as the collective industry of Black owned newspapers, Black-owned magazines and Black media companies. The nation's largest organization that represents the Black Press is the [Historical Black Press Foundation]http://www.blackpress.org which provides access to over 400 Black newspapers and magazines. The Black Press gives trenchant witness to what middle-class free men and women of color thought and did in their own words. The columns of the newspapers and magazines revealed how middle-class Blacks were engaged in significant community-building and humanitarian activities.

Founded in 1999 and reorganized in 2000, the Historical Black Press Foundation fosters dialogue between the mainstream media and minority news organizations, executives and professionals. In addition to providing professional development, Black Press gives exposure minority media executives, professionals and companies committed to diversity. The website is blackpress.org.