“Black Press Day” is represented on March 16. The holiday commemorates the first day that the Freedom’s Journal hit newsstands in 1827.
Created by a group of free Black men, Freedom’s Journal countered the narratives created by white-owned media outlets at the time by countering racist ideologies often presented in the press.
Freedom’s Journal paved the way for Black voices to be represented through the media. Other Black-owned media outlets to follow included North Star published by Fredrick Douglass, Chicago Defender, Michigan Chronicle, the Pittsburgh Courier, and Amsterdam News, and Atlanta Daily World.
Founded in 1928 by William Alexander Scott II, 26 at the time, the Atlanta Daily World became first Black-owned daily in America in 1932.
Atlanta Daily World reporter Harry McAlpin made history in 1944 when he became the first reporter to cover the White House. Although the enslaved labor was used in every aspect of White House construction in the 1700s, Black journalists were not provided credentials to the White House.
Another historical moment came in 1944 when ADW reporter Charles Loeb became the first reporter to reveal the health effects of the Atomic Bomb.
ADW and other Black-owned media would open the doors for diverse outlets to tell the true stories of the Black community.
On “Black Press Day,” it’s important to support and honor the legacy and future of Black-owned media outlets and journalists.
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