By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Thomas H. Watkins built a daily Black newspaper in New York City when few believed it could survive and even fewer wanted it to succeed.
Watkins, who died in December at 88, founded the New York Daily Challenge and made it the first Black-owned daily newspaper in the city’s history. From its headquarters in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the paper delivered sustained, unapologetic coverage of Black political power, economic interests, and community life, produced and controlled by Black ownership.
At its peak, the Daily Challenge generated nearly $30 million annually and employed dozens of African Americans in journalism, advertising, production, and management. Black-owned newspapers across the country have pointed to that record this week as proof that independence in Black media was not symbolic. It was operational.
Publishers remembering Watkins have described him as a builder rather than a figurehead. He secured national advertising from corporations that had long dismissed Black publications. He insisted that Black readership carried measurable value. He proved it with revenue, payrolls, and longevity.
Watkins expanded his reach well beyond one paper. Over decades, he founded and acquired the Afro Times, New American, Jersey City Challenge, Patterson-Passaic Challenge, and Newark Challenge. Together, those publications formed a regional Black press infrastructure that covered local government, national politics, and international affairs with consistency and depth rarely matched by mainstream outlets.
In a 2008 oral history interview, Watkins described himself as a capitalist without hesitation. Ownership, he said, was not optional for Black advancement. Newspapers were economic engines as much as civic institutions, and advertising dollars spent in Black communities should remain there.
Former colleagues recalled that Watkins did not retreat from confrontation. The Daily Challenge covered police misconduct, housing inequity, political boycotts, and global liberation struggles at moments when such reporting carried professional and personal risk. When others hesitated, his papers documented.
Watkins also served as president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and remained on its board for decades. His leadership helped strengthen cooperation among Black-owned newspapers while maintaining editorial independence.
Beyond publishing, Watkins spoke at historically Black colleges and national organizations, repeating a consistent message about economic control and narrative authority. He lived his later years in Brooklyn, continuing to advocate for Black financial empowerment and media ownership.
“Publisher Thomas Watkins was an icon in the evolution of the Black press of America,” Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, told member newspapers. “He was an outspoken leader who cherished the value of truth-telling for freedom, justice, and equality. Our responsibility today is to keep the legacy of Thomas Watkins alive and impactful.”
