The Glover Report: We Must Support the Black Press
Photo: Wall of Pride II, Sandtown
WITHOUT YOU, THERE IS NO US!
By Doni Glover, Publisher
Thursdays at Midnight?on?WEAA?88.9 FM
(BALTIMORE – October 22, 2021) –?For the past 10 years, BmoreNews.com has been pushing the Black Wall Street movement in memory of the humongous accomplishments made in Tulsa’s Greenwood District despite later being air-bombed and burned to the ground in 1921. This year, of course, marked the 100th commemoration back on May 31st and June 1st. In less than 24 hours, 36-square blocks filled with Black-owned businesses were all gone. It is our intention to spread the news about what Black people accomplished in the past in the realm of business so as to inspire a brand new generation of entrepreneurs.
This effort over the years was only inspired by similar efforts by the Black Press going back to the days of slavery. You see, the Black Press has always played a pivotal role in recording history from a Black perspective. And it has been a consistent advocate. Whether the issue was slavery, abolition, lynching, discrimination, or what have you, the Black Press has been that ever-ringing reminder that the truth will be told. This is particularly necessary in a racially-hostile country like America where Black people historically get the short end of the stick.
Without the Black Press, our story simply does not get told. Without the Black Press, someone else gets to tell our story, often without our input. I personally believe that among the Black Press’ roles is to counter such media as D. W. Griffith’s Birth of a Nation which horrifically stereotyped Black people for generations to come. This first American feature film set the tone for how Blacks would be vilified and demonized ever since.
We see it every night on the news. Let others tell the story, the main problem in Baltimore is Black people who are committing all of these murders. The Black Press, however, will go further to reiterate that these murders too often occur in communities which are also education and food deserts. The Black Press will remind us how the welfare system has always sought to divide the Black family with a perpetual focus on the elimination of the Black man from the household. The Black Press will also remind us that if the truth is told, given that Baltimore is 9-to-1 Democrat, the Maryland Democratic Party has failed Blacks in Baltimore much more than the Republican Party; yet, Blacks are always expected to vote Democrat – at least until recent years. And the Black Press will teach us that with a Black mayor, a Black City Council President, and a Black Comptroller, there is absolutely no reason why Black-owned sub-contractors and prime contractors are not getting business in this, a majority Black city, like never before in history.
As Malcolm X so profoundly stated, “The media is the most powerful entity on earth. It can make the innocent look guilty and the guilty look innocent.”
Given that America represents only 5% of the world’s population but yet has 25% of the world’s inmates. Further, according to the Innocence Project, “Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons across the country at nearly five times the rate of whites.” Further, the Black Press will tell us how Black women are the fastest-growing prison demographic.
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Despite those grave statistics, the people who serve in America’s Black Press corps know that behind those numbers, however, are sons, fathers, brothers and cousins. It is the Black Press that continuously tells the story that the others will not because we know we have a solemn obligation to report the whole truth.
Over and over again, the Black Press has been a critical tool used to help maintain some type of transparency within this system. The Black Press has been a voice for the voiceless, including for those behind the walls. Without the Black Press, others come to define the Black community, its values, its character, etc. And that simply does not work for me.
And it shouldn’t work for you either.
All this to say, here is a shot-out to some of the other Black Press in the area. Support them. Do business with them. Let them know that they are appreciated:
Further, many thanks to our supporters/advertisers:
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Publisher @ South Side Drive Magazine, Co-Founder/CEO, Real Men Charities and Real Men Cook, 2023 Leader for a New Chicago. (Field & MacArthur Foundation), CEO The Quarry Event venue, arts destination hub.
1 年Messages like this are always worth sharing. We publish Chicago’s #SouthSideDriveMagazine with an actual paper publication to disrupt business as usual for our youth and senior population, many without internet. and to maintain an unparalleled Black print legacy here. #LegacyMatters
MODEL - CATHERINE MARIE
3 年Perfect