Black Press Celebrates Ties to Black Church in Annual Sunday Service
Rev. William H. Lamar IV, Metropolitan AME pastor, delivers the Black Press Sunday message on March 15. ( Credit: AFRO Photo / Alexis Taylor)
Shown here is a copy of the first Black newspaper, “Freedom’s Journal.” The four-column offering, created in New York City by John Russwurm and Samuel Cornish, was first published on March 16, 1827. ( Credit: Image courtesy of the Library of Congress)
Members of the Black Press come together for Black Press Sunday in Washington, D.C. ( Credit: Courtesy photo)
Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, AFRO News Publisher and CEO, shares a moment on Black Press Sunday with Dorothy Gilliam, the first Black reporter at The Washington Post. ( Credit: AFRO Photo / Alexis Taylor)
Emerging on March 16, 1827, with the debut of “Freedom’s Journal,” the Black Press was started by the intellect, hard work, and courage of John Russworm and Rev. Samuel Cornish.
Though Russworm was born in Jamaica in 1799 and Cornish was a free man born to free parents in Delaware in 1795, the two began their endeavor with one top goal in mind.
“We wish to plead our own cause,” they proclaimed toget…
