From faith-based press conferences to the inaugural Black Press Sunday service at Metropolitan A.M.E. Church on March 16, faith leaders, activists and members of African American media have risen in unison to once more heed the call for civil rights and to champion justice.
“We serve a God who commands us to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We are called to be truth tellers, justice seekers and hope bearers in a world that often seeks to silence us,” said Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes during the Sunday service at Metropolitan, held on the official anniversary of the founding Black Press. “Today, as we reflect on our legacy, let us be reminded that our work is not separate from our faith.”
Throughout the last several weeks, passionate voices and motivational sermons from press leaders and faith activists have worked to uplift institutional values and restore faith in the Black community.
“The only question we should be asking ourselves right now [is], ‘What’s our resistance?’” said spiritual advisor and faith leader Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner on Feb. 17, during a Presidents Day press conference, also at Metropolitan A.M.E.
During the Feb. 17 press conference, gathering members of the media to relay the message, there was one common notion: it’s time for organized action, and the Black church is ready to lead the charge.
“We have everything we need to fight,” Williams-Skinner continued. “We don’t need to do anything, but get enough backbone to believe that if God is with us, who can be against us.”
Inaugural Black Press Sunday
Black Press Sunday speakers like Rolark Barnes and guest preacher Dr. Ravi K. Perry took to the pulpit with marching orders for the press and all people in order to further the justice movement.
The Rev. William Lamar IV, pastor of Metropolitan A.M.E., lauded the enduring legacy of the Black press in a heartfelt message during the commemoration.
“I want to remind us today that the same love that the Black Press used from 1870 to 1930, when mothers and fathers and children had not seen one another, when enslavement pulled us apart—you can find the ads in these papers,” Lamar told the congregation on March 16, noting that the Black Press was a key tool to reuniting families post the abolition of slavery. “Their work is rooted in love for us and love for people, and we must support them.”
The inaugural service culminating Black Press Week (March 12-16), was a perfect opportunity to emphasize the deep-rooted intersection between the church and African American storytellers.
Rolark Barnes highlighted that the first African American owned newspaper – Freedom’s Journal – was established in 1827 by a journalist, John B. Russwurm, and a faith leader, the Rev. Samuel E. Cornish.
Further, Rolark Barnes noted that author, abolitionist and freedom fighter Frederick Douglass – a trailblazer of the Black Press with his publication The North Star – was a former member of the historic Metropolitan A.M.E.
“Just as the Black church has been our refuge and foundation, the Black Press will continue to be our mirror, our megaphone and our movement,” said Rolark Barnes.
During his sermon, Perry commended the work of the Black Press as the spirit of the “anointing,” which he explained is another word for fulfilling God’s true calling.
The political scholar encouraged the room of journalists, religious leaders and allies to continue to seek faith to fulfill their “divine purpose” ordained by God.
“Anointing is not a momentary, singular act. It is a task, indeed a charge we keep,” Perry preached. “It is a responsibility we have to fulfill. It’s our opportunity to be more like Jesus right here and right now in our lives.”
Perry also emphasized the power of turning to faith in times of distress, noting the stories of injustice and resilience lamented in the Bible.
“Jesus and (Chapter) Isaiah remind us that our faith, our purpose, our fast, is to be for the upliftment of those unhoused, those left behind, the broken, the dispirited, the oppressed, and by truly activating our faith, by being productive citizens, we too will be blessed,” Perry said. “God simply asked, let us do justice. So yes, I will sing praises. I will fight.”
Continuing the Vision for Black America
For the Rev. Dr. Carlton Waterhouse, an ordained elder at Metropolitan A.M.E, part of the fight is amplifying the combined mission of the Black Press and church.
After attending Black Press Sunday, Waterhouse revealed he was moved by the critical role of Black publications in “the struggle for African American freedom.” He further noted the opportunities at large to enhance the movement such as: op-ed collaborations, strategic meetings, and building readership through members of the church.
“Things are developed through Black media, along with Christian communities that are committed to social justice–where people network, organize and strategize on ways to improve our situation, and the situation for all people who are in need,” Waterhouse told The Informer.
Just three days before the March 16 service, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), delivered the “State of the Black Press” at Black Press Day on March 13, hosted at Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library in Northwest, D.C.
In his call to action to the 258 publications part of NNPA, he reiterated the purpose of the Black Press, as well as the necessity to return to the foundations of faith.
“From the very beginning of the Black Press, we have been a praying people, a singing people, a unifying people,” Chavis said. “We need a Black church-Black press revival.”
In this age of eliminating federal diversity, equity and inclusion programming, and executive orders that challenge equity and racial progress, faith leaders and members of the Black Press march in a renewed commitment to resilience, faith and preserving and uplifting African American history and culture.
“We have to keep publishing, we have to keep struggling, and we know that we will continue to make progress,” Chavis said. “God bless the Black Press of America.”