By Stacy M. Brown
Black Press USA Senior National Correspondent
The Conrad Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., pulsed with history and urgency as the Black Press of America gathered for its Annual National Leadership Awards and Reception. The evening honored House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, and Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings Jr.
The Conrad Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., pulsed with history and urgency as the Black Press of America gathered for its Annual National Leadership Awards and Reception. The evening honored House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, and Communications Workers of America President Claude Cummings Jr. Cummings, who now serves on the executive committee of the Democratic National Committee, put the night into sharp focus. Speaking to the Black Press’ Let It Be Known morning news show hosts on the Red Carpet, Cummings declared, “Democrats need to spend money now with the Black Press. The Black Press has always been that vehicle in our community that we’ve all needed and that has always been the trusted voice. With what’s happening in Washington and what they are trying to do to our community and our history, everyone should be supporting the Black Press of America.”
The words carried the sting of truth. For decades, the Black Press has stood as the trusted voice for African Americans, telling stories ignored or distorted elsewhere. It carried the mutilated image of Emmett Till when white newspapers looked away. It published Dr. King’s words when others labeled him a troublemaker. It guided families through Jim Crow’s terror and chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of migration, struggle, and resilience. Today, two years before its 200th anniversary, this institution is fighting for its life. Then Attorney Ben Crump, known as “Black America’s Attorney General,” took the stage. He did not come to flatter. He came to help, and he came with fire. “I will ask for personal privilege because I see my leaders in the room. The National President of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, and Chair of the Board, Leigh Ann Wilson,” Crump began. “The men who I stand my day in front of. And I wanted to come and publicly demonstrate my appreciation to the Black Press because right now in America, like we’ve never seen before in our lifetime, they have declared war on Black literature, Black history, Black culture, Black media, Black science, Black health, Black communities, everything Black in every corner of this American society today. And so, they’ve declared war on the First Amendment. I mean, they’re attacking our narratives.”
The weight of his words fell heavily. “So now more than ever, we have to make sure that we have institutions that are disseminating information to our people, being the clarion call for us to be able to be ready to stand up for our children and our communities, to be ready to speak up for our children and communities, and to be ready to fight for our children in the community. And nobody carries the Black narrative and the Black information to Black communities more passionately than the Black Press.” Crump then turned to those seated in the room. “Y’all, right now, y’all know this attack on DEI and everything, they’re cutting funding to all our institutions. And it isn’t right, but part of me says that’s okay. We don’t need them to save us. We are going to save ourselves. We are all we need.”
He reminded the room of the lessons of struggle and obligation. “Everybody got to give a little more when they can. If you’ve been blessed, you got to pass the blessing zone. You just can’t keep it to yourself,” Crump told the packed ballroom. “Our fraternity teaches us we must lift as we climb. So tonight, I’m trying to lift as we climb to make this donation, and I pray that others will join us if you’re able to. If you’re able to.” “Because, like Dr. King said, we all got a role to play. The Black lawyers got a role to play. The Black doctors got a role to play. The Black bankers got a role to play. The Black insurance agents, Black funeral homes. I understand everybody can’t be on the front line with the NAACP and Black Lives Matter and us, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a role to play when you get a seat at the table. When you are inside the room and you have got a voice, you got a role to play. And so, you can’t be afraid to speak truth to power.”
He paused, then drew from the words of his fraternity brother, Attorney Billy Murphy. “He says, Crump, in America today, we got enough African Americans who are educated. We got enough African Americans who are articulate. We got enough African Americans who are intelligent. What we seem to lack is enough African Americans who got courage to speak truth to power. And that’s what we got to have when we’re facing bullies. We got to speak truth to power. We can’t be scared. Just like they unapologetic in their white supremacist beliefs, we got to be unapologetic defenders of Black life, Black liberty, and Black humanity. Now more than ever. And our actions got to match our words.” His action matched his words. Crump pledged $50,000 to the Black Press—structured at $10,000 a year for five years. Fifty thousand dollars for the Black Press. A seed planted in fertile ground, if others dare to water it. “And so I want to present this donation to the Black Press for $50,000,” Crump said. “Because right now we got to support our own.”
But he was not content with his own gift. He pointed the way for others. With the bicentennial of the Black Press approaching, supporters are being urged to step forward through sponsorships, advertising, and partnerships to ensure that the Trusted Voice of the Black Community remains alive. Even for Let It Be Known, ever rising in its import to the Black Press and its growing audience, survival is paramount. There’s an official GoFundMe at https://gofund.me/240152783.
“That’s why I’m making this donation to the Black Press,” Crump declared, his words cutting with urgency. “Because right now the Black Press is needed more than ever before.”
