VOL. 7 NO. 43 JULY 3, 2019
MY TRUTH JOSHUA
NNPA elects new leadership team By Stacy M. Brown
By Cheryl Smith, Publisher
NNPA Newswire
The longer I live, the more I realize that not only do the more things change, the more they stay the same. I also realize you can’t foresee the future or map out exactly how things in life are going to evolve or end. When I started the Don’t Believe the Hype Celebrity Bowl-a-thon, I had a goal in mind of raising lots of money for scholarships. I never envisioned
Cincinnati, OH
Newly elected NNPA Board Members following the ceremonial swearing in of new officers. (Pictured left to right: Treasurer Brenda Andrews, Publisher of the New Journal and Guide; 1st Vice Chair Janis Ware, Publisher of The Atlanta Voice; Judge Tyrone K. Yates, who officiated the swearing in of officers; 2nd Vice Chair, Fran Farrer, Publisher of The County News; Chair of the NNPA, Karen Carter Richards, Publisher of the Houston Forward Times; Secretary: Jackie Hampton, Publisher of The Mississippi Link
Joshua Johnson
that 25 years later we would still be bowling for scholars, with more and more “friends” embracing the idea and supporting the effort. When I moved to Dallas, in 1981, no one on this earth could have told me that this was the destination that I would embrace as “home.” Which brings me to my truth. I always knew I liked teaching. I remember sitting my sister, Tracy, down with my two younger cousins, Valerie and Nini; as I conducted class. I was eight and they were two and four, but I had a big ruler! Well, fast forward decades later, and I began working with the DallasFort Worth Association of Black Communicators (DFW/ABC) Urban Journalism Workshop, which was founded by veteran journalist, and See MY TRUTH, page 5
– The
National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the national trade organization that represents African American newspapers and media companies, known as the Black Press of America, has elected new officers and a Board of Directors to guide the 79-year-old organization for the next two years. The voting took place during the NNPA national convention in Cincinnati on Friday, June 28, 2019.
Karen Carter Richards
In an overwhelming mandate from the publishers who voted at the convention, Houston Forward Times Publisher Karen Carter Richards easily won election as the org-anization’s new Chair. The mandate extended to include the other newly
elected officers: 1st Vice Chair: Janis L. Ware, Publisher of Atlanta Voice 2nd Vice Chair: Fran Farrer, Publisher of The County News Secretary: Jackie Hampton, Publisher of The Mississippi Link Treasurer: Brenda Andrews, Publisher of
New Journal & Guide Directors At-Large: Sonceria (Sonny) Messiah, Publisher of the Houston Defender and James Washington, Publisher of the Dallas Weekly
WE’RE A WINNER: IDA B. WELLS TEXAS METRO NEWS places third for Ida B. Wells Best News Story By Cheryl Smith
“Not Again. Not another hashtag!” That’s the cry around the country and now across the waters as many heard the news re-ports that yet another unarmed Black man had been gunned down by a police officer on Friday, September 7. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes of Dallas’ Friendship-West Baptist Church said he was in South Africa when he and others heard that Botham Shem Jean was in his home when an intruder, Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, entered the premises and shot the 26-year-old PricewaterhouseCoopers analyst. “People are wondering, ‘what is going on,’’’ said Dr. Haynes as he stood with other members of
the African American Pastors Coalition (AAPC) in front of the Dallas Police Department Headquarters, as they prayed for the Jean family, answers, transparency, the Chief of Police U. Renee Hall, the city and yes, Officer Guyger. “Our community is sick and tired. All I’m hearing is the mystery surrounding the circum- stances. We are concerned about ‘Blue bias.’ We want this (shootings of innocent Black men and women) to stop. We want to be served and protected by the police department!” It was a somber Pastor Bryan Carter who talked about the shooting of the Saint Lucia See NNPA, page 9
Dr. Ben Chavis, 1st place Richard Muhammad of the Final Call, Third Place Texas Metro News Publisher Cheryl Smith and Atlanta Voice Publisher Janis Ware.