Washington Informer Wins Five Black Press Awards

The Washington Informer earned five newspaper and journalism awards at the 2023 National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Fund’s Messenger Awards.

The newspaper was recognized for its outstanding education and environment reporting, and community service. The Informer also received accolades for print layout and design, and its website.

“I am grateful for our hard-working and committed team that consistently seeks to educate, entertain, inform, and inspire our readers,” stated Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes.

Meanwhile, the Sacramento Observer added the seventh John B. Russwurm Award to its storied history, scoring a resounding victory during the ceremony.

The Russwurm Award is presented to the top Blackowned newspaper in the country.

In all, the publication, established in 1962, took home 16 awards including Publisher of the Year.

Observer Publisher Larry Lee thanked his NNPA peers and his staff for the newspaper’s continued success.

“On a very humbling night during the NNPA Fund Messenger Awards, the Sacramento Observer won 16 awards including the Russwurm Award as the nation’s best Black newspaper,” Lee celebrated.

“I was also awarded Publisher of the Year. I cannot express how proud I am of our team,” he said.

The 2023 NNPA Fund Messenger Awards took place in Nashville, Tennessee during the NNPA’s annual convention.

The annual awards help bolster a week of meetings, panel discussions, and other events that brings together more than 200 African American publishers and media company owners, their partners, and sponsors.

While the Observer took home the biggest awards haul, and the Informer earned five, other multiple award winners included the Atlanta Voice, Houston Defender, and the Philadelphia Tribune. WI

Remembering Christine King Farris, Education Champion and MLK’s Sister

Christine King Farris, the oldest sister of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) and champion of education and literacy, died June 29 in Atlanta. She was 95.

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER NEWSPAPER (ISSN#0741-9414) is published weekly on each Thursday. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices. News and advertising deadline is Monday prior to publication. Announcements must be received two weeks prior to event. Copyright 2016 by The Washington Informer. All rights reserved. POSTMASTER: Send change of addresses to The Washington Informer, 3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E. Washington, D.C. 20032. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. The Informer Newspaper cannot guarantee the return of photographs. Subscription rates are $55 per year, two years $70. Papers will be received not more than a week after publication. Make checks payable to:

THE WASHINGTON INFORMER

3117 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., S.E Washington, D.C. 20032

Phone: 202 561-4100

Fax: 202 574-3785 news@washingtoninformer.com www.washingtoninformer.com

PUBLISHER

Denise Rolark Barnes

STAFF

Micha Green, Managing Editor

Ron Burke, Advertising/Marketing Director

Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor

Lafayette Barnes, IV, Editor, WI Bridge DC

Austin Cooper, Our House Editor

Desmond Barnes, Social Media Stategist

ZebraDesigns.net, Design & Layout

Mable Neville, Bookkeeper Angie Johnson, Office Mgr./Circulation

REPORTERS

Kayla Benjamin, (Environmental Justice Reporter) Stacy Brown (Senior Writer), Sam P.K. Collins, Curtis Knowles, Brenda Siler, Lindiwe Vilakazi, Sarafina Wright, James Wright

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Shevry Lassiter, Photo Editor, Roy Lewis, Jr., Robert R. Roberts, Anthony Tilghman, Abdula Konte, Ja'Mon Jackson

King Farris dedicated most of her life to keeping her brother's legacy alive.

“We along with the entire King family, Civil Rights activist, historic Ebenezer Church, the academic community, and people of goodwill celebrate the life of our beloved servant,” said Bernice A. King, MLK’s daughter, and CEO of The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Isaac Farris, her oldest son, said that his mother's death ”was not unexpected,” but is sadly ironic because it occurred the same day as when the Supreme Court “struck down affirmative action,” in education.

Farris said that his mother “suffered,” because she wanted to attend Harvard, but after that wasn't possible she got into Columbia University where she earned two graduate degrees.

Farris was the first child of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. and Alberta Williams King. She would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College and later master’s degrees in social foundations of education and special education from Columbia University.

As the oldest sibling, Farris endured multiple tragedies: the assassination of Dr. King in 1968; the death, by drowning, of her other brother, Alfred Daniel King in 1969; and the fatal shooting of her mother Alberta King, who was assassinated while playing the organ during Sunday services at Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1974.

“Aunt Christine embodied what it meant to be a public servant,” Martin Luther King III said in a tweet after her death. “ She defied the odds that held back too many marginalized communities – going on to become a civil rights leader and acclaimed author.” WI

Read more on washingtoninformer.com.

New Program Offers Cash Rewards for Tips on Illegal Guns, Shootings

A new effort as part of Safer, Stronger DC, and #GunsDownDC, is offering up reward money in assisting the Metropolitan Police Department in finding illegal guns as well as arresting alleged shooters.

In order to stop the spread of firearms, MPD and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser are offering a minimum of $1,000 and up to $2500 for tips that lead to the arrest and seizure of an illegal gun.

Further, providing tips that lead to the arrest and sei- zure of a “‘ghost gun’ or a firearm equipped with an automatic conversion device,’ can result in receiving additional reward money of up to $5000.

Those who provide information leading to an arrest and conviction in a shooting are eligible to receive up to $10,000.

For more information or to report an illegal firearm, call (202) 727-9099 or anonymously text 50411. WI