Black History
For Scores of Years, Newspapers Printed Hate, Leading to Racist Terror Lynchings and Massacres of Black Americans
NNPA NEWSWIRE — The series of stories in “Printing Hate” resulted from a multifaceted investigation by 58 student journalists from the University of Maryland, the University of Arkansas and five historically Black colleges and universities: Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.
By DeNeen L. Brown | The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism
“FRIED OVER SLOW FIRE: Negro Commits the Unspeakable Crime and Is Put to Death With Horrible Torture; MOB GLOATS OVER FIENDISH BARBARITY”
– Herald Democrat, Sherman, Texas, May 23, 1902
“LYNCHING CAUSED BY BRUTAL MURDER”
– The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, S.C., July 14, 1914
“NEGRO UNDER SENTENCE TO HANG LYNCHED AT TALLAHASSEE”
– The Pensacola Journal, Pensacola, Fla., June 8, 1909
“BLOODY WORK OF MOB”
-The Choctaw Plaindealer, Ackerman, Miss., Aug. 12, 1910
“Gov. Brough Fired Upon by Negroes at Elaine; NEGROES HAD PLOT TO RISE AGAINST WHITES, CHARGED”
– Arkansas Democrat, Little Rock, Ark., Oct. 2, 1919
“THE ASSAULT ON WOMAN AVENGED–DAVIS DRAGGED FROM JAIL AND LYNCHED–MOB RIDDLED NEGRO RAVISHER WITH BULLETS; HUNG TO TREE ON BRICKYARD HILL AT EARLY HOUR THIS MORNING; BRUTE CONFESSED BEFORE THE CROWD–SAID HE INTENDED TO MURDER HER AS WELL”
– Evening Capital, Annapolis, Md., Dec. 21, 1906
“3,000 WILL BURN NEGRO”
– The New Orleans States, New Orleans, La., June 26, 1919
“Nab Negro for Attacking Girl In an Elevator”
– The Tulsa Tribune, Tulsa, Okla., May 31, 1921
“JOHN HARTFIELD WILL BE LYNCHED BY ELLISVILLE MOB AT 5 O’CLOCK THIS AFTERNOON”
– Jackson Daily News, Jackson, Miss., June 26, 1919
“FIXED FOR A BARBECUE; Preparations to Roast Jim Buchanan, Negro Murderer. Had the Mob Secured Him at Nacogdoches This was to Have Been the Programme”
– The Southern Mercury, Dallas, Texas, Oct. 16, 1902
For decades, hundreds of white-owned newspapers across the country incited the racist terror lynchings and massacres of thousands of Black Americans. In their headlines, these newspapers often promoted the brutality of white lynch mobs and chronicled the gruesome details of the lynchings. Many white reporters stood on the sidelines of Jim Crow lynchings as Black men, women, teenagers and children were hanged from trees and burned alive. White mobs often posed on courthouse lawns, grinning for photos that ran on front pages of mainstream newspapers.
These racist terror lynchings — defined as extrajudicial killings carried out by lawless mobs intending to terrorize Black communities — evoked horror as victims were often castrated, dismembered, tortured and riddled with bullets before being hanged from trees, light poles and bridges.
Lynchings took different forms. Some Black people were bombed, as four little girls were in a church in Birmingham, Alabama. Black men were whipped by mobs to silence them. Emmett Till was kidnapped, tortured, beaten and thrown into the Tallahatchie River with a cotton-gin fan tied around his neck with barbed wire.
“Printing Hate,” a yearlong investigation by students working with the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland, examines the scope, depth and breadth of newspaper coverage of hundreds of those public-spectacle lynchings and massacres.
The investigation was inspired by DeNeen L. Brown’s reporting on the Red Summer of 1919 and the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, which was sparked by the sensational coverage of The Tulsa Tribune, specifically a May 31, 1921, front-page story: “Nab Negro for Attacking Girl In an Elevator.” The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the deadliest acts of racist violence against Black people in U.S. history.
This project investigates the cumulative effect of how newspaper headlines and editorials incited racist terror and falsely accused Black people of crimes. The series uncovers the widespread practice of publishing headlines that accelerated lynchings and massacres. That included newspapers announcing “Negro uprisings,” publishing uncorroborated stories of Black men accused of “assaulting” white women, and printing false allegations of arson and vagrancy — all in an attempt to justify racist terror inflicted on Black people.
Many of the newspapers examined in this project ran racist headlines, calling Black people “brutes,” “fiends” and “bad Negroes.” Newspapers across the South greeted readers with “Hambone’s Meditations,” a racist caricature created by The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee. (The Commercial Appeal was owned by Scripps-Howard from 1936 to 2015, when the company spun off its newspapers. The Scripps Howard Foundation supports the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland.)
Some of the newspapers advertised upcoming lynchings, often printing the time, date and place where mobs would gather. Some white reporters watched, took notes and wrote riveting accounts of the barbarity of mobs, documenting the horror of the wounds inflicted, with blow-by-blow descriptions of the attacks, as though they were writing about a sporting event. But those reporters, as skilled as they were as writers, often failed to practice good journalism, by undertaking the basic job of reporters — pursue and tell the truth. Many of those reporters failed to identify white people in the mob. They also failed to hold government officials accountable by asking hard questions of the sheriffs, judges and other local law enforcement officials who stepped aside while white mobs attacked Black people.
This series found that the collective impact of those accounts was devastating. Triggered by front-page headlines, Black people were often dragged from their homes, ridiculed, tormented and whipped with straps so sharp their flesh was shredded.
Sparked by reports, a white mob of more than 2,000 people in Salisbury, Maryland, pulled 23-year-old Matthew Williams from the “Negro ward” of the hospital, on Dec. 4, 1931, threw him out the window, stabbed him with an ice pick, and dragged him to the courthouse lawn. Before dousing him with gasoline, they cut off his fingers and toes, then drove to the Black side of town, where they tossed his body parts onto porches of Black people, while shouting for them to make “N—– sandwiches.”
The project reveals how the scope of the news of the day for some Americans was often ghastly, shaping the American landscape and psyche. The front pages included pictures of people being killed in the most horrible ways. The lynchings were covered as an everyday occurrence, often reported side by side with who graduated from college that day and stock prices. A reader could open the newspaper in the morning and casually scan the headlines reporting baseball scores, finalists in beauty contests, reports on tariff negotiations and a news story advocating lynchings.
The fact that lynchings took place is generally known, and the fact that some newspapers incited lynchings is generally known. But the Howard Center’s reporting shows how widespread this incendiary coverage was. It was not a question of this coverage just happening in places like Wilmington, North Carolina; Montgomery, Alabama; or Atlanta, but it happened in small towns across America.
Not all white-owned newspapers were guilty, and there were degrees of guilt. In some instances, editors looked the other way. In other instances, they not only covered the fire; they lit the fuse.
“Printing Hate” examines white-owned newspaper coverage of lynchings and massacres from the end of the Civil War in 1865 to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. During those 100 years, thousands of Black people were murdered in massacres and lynchings. In that same period, nearly 5,000 racial terror lynchings of Black people occurred, according to a Howard Center analysis of the Beck-Tolnay inventory of Southern Lynch Victims and the Seguin-Rigby National Data Set of Lynchings in the United States.
Lynchings were often public-spectacle executions “carried out by lawless mobs, though police officers did participate, under the pretext of justice,” according to the NAACP, which in 1919 published “Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1919,” to promote awareness of the scope of lynching.
A MULTIFACETED INVESTIGATION
The series of stories in “Printing Hate” resulted from a multifaceted investigation by 58 student journalists from the University of Maryland, the University of Arkansas and five historically Black colleges and universities: Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University and North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University.
The students spent months examining hundreds of newspapers to detail the complicity of many white newspaper owners, publishers and journalists who used headlines, articles and editorials to incite racist mob violence and terror, in the form of lynchings, massacres and pogroms. In the course of this investigation, student journalists examined hundreds of headlines and news reports that were collected in an original database designed by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism.
“We found lots of examples of sensationalized coverage and trumped-up charges,” said Sean Mussenden, data editor at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, who worked with student journalists who built a database to allow many papers to examine their past lynching coverage. “As someone who has worked in the industry for a long time, I understood newspapers to be imperfect institutions that nonetheless served as guardians of truth who righted wrongs and exposed corrupt officials. I was shocked by the role so many papers played in promoting a culture of racial terror.”
The students were not the first to uncover the white newspaper coverage, which was often countered by the Black press. However, they were able to investigate as reporters of a new generation bringing a 21st-century perspective to the project.
This investigation of newspaper coverage of lynchings comes at a time of “racial reckoning” in newsrooms. The stories dive into the country’s racist history, at a time when states are passing laws to prevent that truth from being told, under the guise of banning the teaching of critical race theory — designed to be taught in law schools. The series begins at a time when several major newspapers have issued statements, acknowledging and apologizing for racist coverage. “Printing Hate” attempts to add to this discourse by providing a more comprehensive review of that racist historical newspaper coverage that incited the deaths of thousands of Black people.
Rollout
“Printing Hate” will roll out over the next three months, publishing to the University of Maryland’s Capital News Service and Howard Center website. It is set to be published by Word In Black, a “groundbreaking collaboration of the nation’s leading Black news publishers,” and is scheduled to appear on the National Association of Black Journalists’ website.
Over the course of these months, the project seeks to tell the story of the Black Americans who were betrayed by American newspapers, whose job should have been to report the facts and circumstances fairly and accurately.
Newsrooms
“Printing Hate” contains interviews with current newspaper editors who have issued apologies and with those who have not. The project examines how the U.S. government failed to enact anti-lynching legislation to prevent the murder of Black people.
Readers will find interviews with descendants of lynching victims, including an account of the lynching of William Henderson Foote, who was killed by a mob in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1883. He was the first Black federal officer to die in the line of duty, “defending the rule of law in protection of a citizen’s basic civil right,” the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives determined.
The series showcases compelling narratives of those impacted by newspaper accounts, including the 1908 case of Annie Walker, who begged “night riders” for mercy before she was killed, according to a report in the Public Ledger newspaper in Kentucky.
The project features a timeline, written by a visiting professional, which connects the dots between racial terror massacres and lynchings, and failed attempts by Congress to pass anti-lynching legislation.
“Printing Hate” includes a story explaining how white-owned newspapers conspired to destroy a political party in Danville, Virginia, coverage of the lynching of Sank Majors and the inhumanity of Waco, Texas, where massive public lynchings of Black men were nurtured by the city’s newspapers. The project includes a story about The Columbus Dispatch, which condoned the lynching of John Gibson, published under the headline, “NEGRO FIEND MEETS HIS FATE.”
Readers will discover a report from a student journalist who dove into history and emerged with a story about the managing editor of The Atlanta Constitution and publisher of The Atlanta Journal, who ran for governor on platforms championing the fallacy of white supremacy.
The Atlanta Journal wrote an editorial in 1906 in support of “the legal disenfranchisement of 223,000 male negroes of voting age in Georgia.” The Journal claimed to support the disenfranchisement of Black men because “we are the superior race and do not intend to be ruled by our semi barbaric inferiors.”
The “Printing Hate” package of stories sweeps west to the blood-soaked cotton fields of Elaine, Arkansas, where newspapers inaccurately reported in 1919 that Black people in Elaine were engaged in an “uprising” against white people. Those headlines were essentially dog-whistle calls to white people in Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and surrounding states to descend on Elaine and literally hunt and kill Black people.
In “Printing Hate,” students write how the press covered jazz great Billie Holiday when she sang about “Strange Fruit”; how lynching photos and postcards were used by the media to foment terror; and about the courage of many journalists in the Black press who — often despite threats to their lives — pursued the truth about lynchings. This includes fearless anti-lynching crusader Ida B. Wells-Barnett; Walter White, who investigated lynchings for the NAACP; Robert S. Abbott, founder of The Chicago Defender, whose masthead promised “We Print THE TRUTH No Matter Whom IT HURTS;” Simeon S. Booker Jr., the first Black reporter for The Washington Post, and an award-winning journalist who covered the civil rights movement for Jet and Ebony magazines; Moses Newson, a reporter for the Tri-State Defender in Memphis and the Baltimore Afro-American, who covered the 1955 trial of the white men who lynched Emmett Till in Mississippi.
Roscoe Dunjee, the founder and publisher of The Black Dispatch newspaper in Oklahoma City and a fearless crusader for justice, wrote in a 1919 editorial that white editors across the country — including at The New York Times and The Washington Post — should cease printing inflammatory headlines and false reports about Black people, which Dunjee wrote incited racist violence. As evidence, he cited a July 1919 Washington Post headline that provided the precise time, date and location where white mobs would “mobilize” near the White House to continue attacks on Black people during the D.C. Massacre of 1919, which left as many as 39 people dead.
“As long as editors encourage lawlessness as cynically as the editor of The Washington Post, there can be no hope of averting mob violence anywhere,” Dunjee said.
C.R. Gibbs, a historian and author of “Black, Copper, & Bright: The District of Columbia’s Black Civil War Regiment,” said newspapers often amplified community attitudes about race and racism.
“They provided the oil to throw on the fire of racial intolerance,” Gibbs said. “They essentially abandoned the cardinal rule of the press to report fairly and accurately. When we look at the vitriol splashed across newspapers across the country, when it came to race, they should still be liable for some sort of justice. These headlines had the real effect of taking people’s lives, of making people’s situations that much worse time and time again. They were not fighters for truth and justice. They were propagators of violence, oppression and bloodshed.”
Victoria A. Ifatusin, a graduate student at the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, said working on the project was a profound experience.
“We talk about social injustices today and how Black people were treated back then quite often,” Ifatusin said. “But I don’t think that people, including me before this project, really understood how Black people were horrifically mistreated, to the point that their lives were taken just for their skin color. And newspapers, a medium of truth, aided in that mistreatment. As a young reporter, it deeply hurts to know that reporters of this time who were meant to seek truth, deliberately printed false information that harmed Black people. This only contributes to the passion I have for journalism in efforts to tell stories truthfully without creating harm to anyone.”
The stories, headlines, photos, editorials and cartoons detailed in the “Printing Hate” series may hit readers in the gut because of the cumulative effect of the resulting racist terror lynchings and massacres. The package of stories is unflinching. But it is required reading because the role some white-owned newspapers played in inciting racist terror lynchings and massacres against Black people in America is undeniable.
Vanessa Sanchez and Brittany Gaddy contributed to this report.
DeNeen L. Brown is an associate professor of journalism at the University of Maryland.
Black History
IN MEMORIAM: Marcia Ann Gillespie, Editor of Essence and Ms. Magazines, Dies at 82
Marcia Ann Gillespie, the trailblazing journalist who served as the first editor-in-chief of Essence magazine, has died at age 82. After joining the publication at its inception in 1970, Gillespie spent a decade elevating the beauty and voices of Black women during a pivotal era of self-love and cultural revolution. She later broke barriers as the first Black woman to lead Ms. magazine, further solidifying her status as a titan of the publishing industry. Her expansive career also included authorship and teaching, leaving a profound impact on American media. Read more.
Marcia Anna Gillespie, the first editor in chief of Essence magazine, has died. She was 82.
Born in Rockville Centre, New York, in 1944. The daughter of a church sexton/small business owner and domestic worker/caterer, Gillespie parlayed her degree in American studies from Illinois’s Lake Forest College into a research job at Time-Life Books, Inc. in New York.
There she advocated for fairness and inclusion of Black life in its publications. When the owners of the standard bearer of Black life, Ebony magazine, ventured into creating a special publication for young, Black women, Gillespie was hired as managing editor in 1970, and became editor-in-chief a year later at the young age of 26.
At the time, the venture by the Johnson family – the owners of Ebony magazine and Jet – into creating a publication for young Black women met the growing revolution of self-love in the Black community.
In other words, the battle cry of the late 1960s, “Black is Beautiful,” had a place to be seen and not just heard.
Thousands of young women who had already abandoned straightening combs and European aesthetics learned more ways to wear their natural hair from Afros to cornrows. Young Black designers got a place in the spotlight not just in clothing but jewelry that expressed neo-African ideals. But one of the most important impacts was the magazine’s unapologetic elevation of the beauty of the dark-skinned Black female to the status she deserved.
Under Gillepie’s tenure, Essence championed storytelling that celebrated Black women’s identities, experiences, and contributions at a time when their voices were often overlooked in mainstream media,” Essence wrote in a statement posted to Instagram
For 10 years she steered the fledgling publication before joining Ms. Magazine as a contributor in 1980 later becoming the first Black woman to edit a mainstream American magazine when she took charge in 1992.
In 1998, she helped secure the publication’s future through a women-led ownership group. She stayed at Ms. In various capacities until 2001, during which time the magazine had the most diverse readership in its history.
She also mentored future Essence editor Susan L. Taylor and taught young journalists at SUNY Old Westbury.
Emmy-winning actor Sheryl Lee Ralph took to social media to honor Gillespie’s life.
“Rest in peace, dear Marcia Gillespie,” she wrote on Threads. “Your voice, your brilliance, and your commitment to lifting up Black women leaves a legacy that will continue to inspire me and so many others.”
A professor at SUNY Old Westbury and Bennett College, she also co-authored the authorized biography “Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration” in 2008.
According to Wikipedia, she also served on various boards as a director or advisor, including: “…the Arthur Ashe Institute of Urban Health, the Black & Jewish Women of New York, the Violence Policy Center in Washington, D.C., Aspen Institute, …and the Studio Museum of Harlem. Gillespie is a member of the National Council of Negro Women and the American Association of Magazine Editors.”
She was the recipient of several awards, including: the Lake Forest College Outstanding Alumni Award (1973), the New York Women in Communications Matrix Award (1978); a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York Association of Black Journalists for print journalism (1982); a ‘Top Ten Outstanding Women in Magazine Publishing’ recognition by the March of Dimes.
In later years she was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors’ Hall of Fame (2002); the NAACP President’s Award (2006) and the Barbara Graves Legacy Award at the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit in 2017.
The conclusion for her online obituary reads: “She leaves behind a legacy written not just in the pages she edited, but in every editor, journalist, and reader who found themselves — finally — in the stories she chose to tell.”
Online sources for this report include “The History Makers,” The Washington Informer, Wikipedia, Essence magazine, Ms. Magazine and her obituary.
Black History
U.S. Rep. John Garamendi Honors local ‘Women of the Year’ at Annual Awards Ceremony
Congressman John Garamendi recently honored 52 remarkable women during his 13th annual Women of the Year ceremony in Benicia. The event recognized leaders from California’s 8th District for their significant contributions to public service, education, business, and community life. The honorees, including 16 women from West Contra Costa County, were officially commemorated in the Congressional Record for their dedication to the region. The diverse group includes veterans, educators, and community advocates who have shaped the local landscape through decades of service. Read more about these influential leaders.
Sixteen women from West Contra Costa County were among 52 honorees recognized by Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA-08) at his 13th annual Women of the Year ceremony in Benicia on Oct. 23.
The 2026 honorees from Solano and Contra Costa counties were recognized for contributions to public service, education, business and community life.
“Every year, I’m honored to recognize the remarkable women of California’s Eighth District who serve as the backbone of our community,” Garamendi said.
Their contributions were also recognized in the Congressional Record. The following profiles summarize the ceremony remarks and supporting biographies.
Richmond
King-Meredith was honored for six decades of community service. An engineer and project manager whose professional career included defense-industry work, she has served organizations including the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council and Shields-Reid Neighborhood Council. Her contributions also include environmental justice advocacy and artwork addressing social injustice.
Bolds was recognized for supporting Richmond youth and families and organizing community events. She established the annual “Put the Guns Down” event about 20 years ago in response to neighborhood violence. Through her organization, Visions of Hope, she brings together families, service providers, community leaders and public safety partners to address bullying and violence prevention.
Martinez Luna was honored for her work supporting businesses and families along Richmond’s 23rd Street corridor. Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, she became the first person in her family to graduate from high school. A longtime Rigo’s Auto Sales employee and secretary of the 23rd Street Merchants Association, she helps organize community events, supports immigration information forums and works with local partners on neighborhood concerns.
Dawkins-Padigela was recognized for her professional and community leadership. A U.S. Air Force veteran who served seven years as an aircraft mechanic, she later pursued graduate studies in marriage and family therapy and professional clinical counseling. As president of East Bay CAMFT, she supports professional education, networking and collaboration among mental health practitioners.
Padilla, a dean at Contra Costa College, was honored for advancing educational equity and student success. A Richmond High School graduate, she began her higher education at Contra Costa College before earning a bachelor’s degree in applied physics from UC Davis and a doctorate in neuroscience from UC Berkeley. She later returned to CCC to lead initiatives expanding opportunities for students pursuing STEM careers.
Milam was recognized for a public service career that began as a teenager with the East Bay Public Safety Corridor Partnership. As crime prevention manager for the Richmond Police Department, she has worked with government and community partners on violence prevention and homelessness response. Her congressional tribute credits her with helping secure nearly $30 million for outreach, shelter, treatment, encampment resolution and pathways to housing.
Nmereole was honored for supporting immigrant communities, young people and elderly residents throughout Contra Costa County and the greater Bay Area. Her volunteer work includes GED tutoring, vocational nursing exam preparation, computer instruction and youth mentorship. She also helps immigrants navigate services and assists elderly residents with transportation, prescriptions and groceries.
Curl was recognized for more than two decades of service to Richmond, beginning with the city’s redevelopment agency. She became interim city manager in November 2021 and permanent city manager in April 2022 before retiring in 2026. Garamendi credited her with helping secure more than $300 million in grants for infrastructure, housing and education, strengthening city finances and helping Richmond exit the state auditor’s high-risk designation.
Black History
HISTORY MADE: Keisha Lance Bottoms Becomes First Black Woman Elected Governor in American History
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — History has been made in Georgia. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, has been elected governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman in American history to win the highest executive office in any state.
History has been made in Georgia. Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, has been elected governor of Georgia, becoming the first Black woman in American history to win the highest executive office in any state.
Bottoms’ victory over Republican businessman Rick Jackson represents a defining moment in American politics, breaking a barrier that has stood since the nation’s founding and placing Georgia at the center of a historic political transformation.
For generations, Black women have played a critical role in American democracy, organizing communities, leading movements, mobilizing voters and shaping public policy. Yet despite their contributions, no Black woman had ever been elected governor of a U.S. state.
Until now.
Bottoms’ election also makes her the first woman and first Black person elected governor of Georgia, a state whose political history has been deeply shaped by slavery, segregation, the civil rights movement and the long struggle for equal representation.
Her victory carries particular significance in a state where Black women have been among the most influential forces in voter registration, political organizing and Democratic electoral success.
A fifth-generation Georgian, Bottoms previously served as Atlanta’s 60th mayor from 2018 to 2022. During her administration, she led the city through the COVID-19 pandemic, nationwide protests over racial injustice and a period of significant economic and population growth.
Following her time as mayor, Bottoms served as a senior adviser in President Joe Biden’s administration before returning to Georgia politics to pursue the governorship.
Her campaign focused on expanding access to health care, strengthening public education, increasing wages and addressing the rising cost of living. She also advocated for expanding Medicaid, raising Georgia’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and increasing compensation for teachers and other public employees.
Bottoms faced Jackson, a wealthy health care executive who invested heavily in his campaign and positioned himself as a political outsider. The contest drew national attention as Democrats sought to reclaim the Georgia governor’s office after more than two decades of Republican control.
The historic nature of Bottoms’ victory extends well beyond party politics.
Georgia, once at the center of some of America’s most consequential civil rights battles, has now elected a Black woman to lead its state government. It is a milestone that reflects generations of political participation, organizing and leadership by Black Georgians.
For Atlanta, the moment is especially significant. A former mayor of the city that helped shape the modern civil rights movement will now lead the entire state.
Bottoms’ election opens a new chapter in Georgia’s political history and establishes a milestone that will be remembered far beyond the 2026 election.
For continuing election coverage and results, visit AtlantaDailyWorld.com/election26.
Black History
Hundreds of Black Christian Leaders Arriving in Israel for Martin Luther King-Inspired Mission
Hundreds of African American and African Christian leaders are visiting Israel for the ‘Unfinished Business Pilgrimage,’ inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King’s plans for a pilgrimage in 1967 that was canceled due to the Six Day War. The event aims to promote pro-Israel sentiments amidst rising antisemitism and will expand to thousands of participants in 2027. Pastor Dumisani Washington emphasizes the importance of Black Americans recognizing their role in supporting Israel. Pilgrimage leaders are also delivering gifts to victims of recent violence, reiterating the historical bond between Jewish and Black communities in advocating for justice. Pastor Michael A. Stevens highlights the need for education against antisemitism while suggesting that Israel should be more attuned to issues affecting Black lives.
As support for Israel declines precipitously in the US, hundreds of African-American and African pastors and Christian leaders are arriving in Israel this week for a mission inspired by the slain US civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.
King planned to bring thousands of pilgrims to Israel and Jordan in 1967, but that trip was postponed because of the Six Day War and the political implications of such a trip. He said he would look into coming the next year, but was assassinated in April 1968.
“There were no mass pilgrimages” back then, says Pastor Dumisani Washington, a pro-Israel activist, at a press conference in Jerusalem. “We as Black Americans recognize that Black Americans were about to start something that no one else was doing.”
The “Unfinished Business Pilgrimage” will expand to thousands of participants next year, say organizers, to mark 60 years since King’s planned visit.
“We felt a burden in our heart,” Washington continues. “We see the rising antisemitism on the right and on the left.”
There is a “mountain of support rising from the Black church,” says Pastor Michael A. Stevens, Sr.
The leaders of the pilgrimage present gifts to victims of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, massacre, including freed hostage Elkana Bohbot; Hila Abir, whose brother Lotan was murdered at the Nova music festival; and Daniel Lischinsky, whose son Yaron was murdered alongside his fiancée Sarah Milgrim at an Israeli embassy event in Washington, DC.
Ther rest of the participants arrive tomorrow, and will visit biblical sites across the country, as well as the site of the Nova massacre.
Steven says that Jewish and Black Americans had a tradition of coming together to “establish what was right, and to set the tone for the nation and for the world.”
“If anyone should stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters, it ought to be African-Americans, it ought to be Africans,” he continues.
Though rates of antisemitism have risen among people of color, Stevens tells The Times of Israel, “I still think we are the lowest-hanging fruit to educate and to learn.” He says, “The African-American Church is still the most influential institution in all of America, in fact, at least in the Black community.”
Stevens says one of the objectives of the mission is to spread awareness that “we cannot have antisemitism in our culture, period.”
At the same time, he says that Israel could improve its approach to Black America: “I believe Israel could be more attentive to the fact that a lot of the loss of lives that we see looks like us. Whether it’s in Gaza, whether it’s Ethiopians and racism.”
Reverend Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis. Jr. is on this delegation representing the Black Press of America and Spill the Honey as a present-day fulfillment of the dream and prior plan of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in 1967 to lead a 5000 Black Clergy Pilgrimage to Israel.
Black History
Christianity’s Racial History
THE POSITIVE COMMUNITY — Historian and author Jemar Tisby is challenging the traditional narratives of American religious history through his acclaimed work, The Color of Compromise. His research provides a comprehensive examination of how Christian institutions have historically participated in, accommodated, or resisted racial injustice from the colonial era to the present day.
Jemar Tisby is a historian, author, and public speaker whose work examines the relationship between Christianity, racism, and American history. Through his writing, he challenges readers to reconsider the role religious institutions have played in shaping racial attitudes and social structures. His widely recognized book, The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism, explores how Christian churches have participated in, accommodated, and sometimes resisted racial injustice throughout American history. Tisby’s work encourages readers to examine the past honestly and consider what meaningful change requires today.
One of the central arguments in The Color of Compromise is that racism in America cannot be understood without examining the influence of religious institutions. Christianity has often been associated with messages of love, justice, compassion, and equality. Yet churches and Christian leaders have sometimes supported systems that denied African Americans their freedom and dignity. Tisby examines this contradiction, demonstrating how religious beliefs and institutions could be used to justify racial oppression rather than challenge it.
The book takes readers back to the era of European colonization and slavery, when religious arguments were frequently used to defend the enslavement of Africans. Some Christian leaders claimed that slavery was compatible with biblical teachings, while others used Christianity to encourage resistance to the institution. Enslaved Africans developed their own spiritual traditions, drawing strength from their faith while enduring violence, separation from family, and the denial of basic human rights. Tisby highlights the importance of understanding how Christianity became intertwined with the development of American slavery.
Tisby also explores the role of churches during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Although emancipation ended legal slavery, it did not eliminate racial prejudice or the struggle for equal citizenship. Some religious communities supported efforts to educate formerly enslaved people and establish independent Black institutions. Others tolerated or defended segregation and white supremacy. The period demonstrates how Christian institutions faced a choice between challenging racial injustice and preserving existing social arrangements.
Another important subject in the book is the relationship between Christianity and Jim Crow segregation. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, racial segregation became deeply embedded in American society. Many churches reflected the same divisions, maintaining separate congregations and unequal opportunities for worship and leadership. Tisby argues that compromise occurred not only when Christians openly defended racism but also when they remained silent or accepted discriminatory practices to avoid conflict. This distinction is essential to understanding the book’s central message.
The civil rights movement provides another significant chapter in this history. Black churches played a vital role in organizing demonstrations, supporting community leadership, and providing spiritual encouragement to people fighting racial discrimination. Figures such as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. drew upon Christian teachings to challenge segregation and demand equal rights. However, not all white Christian congregations supported the movement. Tisby examines the difference between those who actively opposed racism and those who hesitated to challenge the racial status quo.
A major strength of Tisby’s writing is his attention to the difference between individual prejudice and institutional racism. A person may believe in treating others fairly while participating in organizations or traditions that produce unequal outcomes. Similarly, a church may preach love and acceptance while failing to confront discriminatory practices within its own community. Tisby encourages Christians to look beyond personal intentions and examine the consequences of their actions, their institutional policies, and their willingness to address injustice.
The book also challenges contemporary Christians to consider how the legacy of racial compromise continues to affect American religious life. Questions about church leadership, worship communities, racial representation, education, and public policy remain important. Tisby argues that acknowledging historical wrongdoing is not about assigning personal guilt to every modern Christian. Rather, it is about understanding how past decisions shaped the present and recognizing the responsibility to pursue greater fairness, accountability, and inclusion.
Tisby’s work has become an important contribution to conversations about race and religion because it asks readers to move beyond comfortable narratives about American Christianity. His historical approach encourages people to examine uncomfortable evidence, listen to the experiences of African Americans, and recognize the difference between professing moral principles and practicing them. The book also raises questions about what genuine reconciliation requires, emphasizing that meaningful progress involves more than expressions of goodwill. It requires a willingness to confront injustice and make changes that reflect the values Christians claim to uphold.
Ultimately, The Color of Compromise is a call for historical honesty, moral reflection, and meaningful action. Jemar Tisby challenges churches and individual believers to understand how Christianity has been used both to support oppression and to inspire resistance against it. His message is especially relevant in a society still wrestling with racial inequality and the consequences of its history. By examining the past with courage and integrity, readers can better understand the responsibilities of faith in the present. The book reminds us that the true test of religious conviction is not simply what people profess to believe, but whether their actions reflect justice, compassion, and respect for the dignity of every human being.
Based on reporting by The Positive Community.
Black History
Learn Black History and Win Your Next Game Night
INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER — Dr. Maxine Bryant, a culture keeper and professor, is combatting book bans and historical inaccuracies through the launch of GriotSpeaks: The Game. The new board game is designed to celebrate the African diaspora by incorporating elements of geography, literature, music, and the Gullah Geechee culture.
Maxine Bryant, Ph.D., creator and founder GriotSpeaks, is sharing the history of the African diaspora through her new board game.
Bryant often quotes the African proverb: “Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.” She said for the hunter has been telling the story of the African diaspora for “far too long.”
The game is based in African culture. The spaces on the board feature the countries of the African diaspora and it uses gold bars and cowrie shells as currency while special game spaces showcase symbols such as the Sankofa bird, a pyramid and an Ankh.
Bryant, a culture keeper and educator, created the game to add a bit of fun to her ongoing mission of dispelling myths and sharing accurate history. She used the history lessons she taught over the years as the foundation for the game’s trivia questions. Bryant said she is even more motivated to correct the inaccurate narratives due to recent book bans and efforts to minimize or omit the contributions of Black people.
“We can’t tell our story if we don’t know our story,” Bryant said.
History buffs may start the game with a slight advantage, but even players with limited knowledge have a chance to win with some strategic play. During one game demonstration, she said, an 11-year-old beat her with the clever use of one of the game’s wild cards.
Bryant’s goal is for people to learn new information while having a good time with one another. She sat down with the Recorder to share her inspiration for the game and how she hopes it will influence the culture.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was the inspiration for creating a game?
Maxine Bryant: In all honesty, God gave me the vision for the game.
I put that board game together the way God showed me in in this vision, if you will, it was to be educational, informative, and entertaining. And so, I knew I wanted it to encompass all of the diaspora and with the educational part of it. Since I am a professor, it needed to encompass the critical areas of our history.
So, it’s geography; it’s the resistance, the protest — all of that. It’s … literature, music, the Gullah Geechee culture, storytelling, the whole gamut, and then Black people.
What are some of the things people are surprised to finally learn while playing the game?
Bryant: The genius of Black people.
Many people know Madam C.J. Walker, although I’m finding out that not everybody does. But one of the questions (asks about) who invented the hot comb? Everybody thinks Madam C.J. Walker, but no, that was not her thing. Her thing was hair care and strengthening hair. It was a man (Walter H. Sammons) who created the hot comb. So, people are amazed at what they’re learning.
How do you hope that this new knowledge helps people see the world?
Bryant: So, what I hope people learn is our true history, the history of our struggle, and our resistance, the history of our greatness, and information about our culture. That positions us then to be able to stand tall in knowledge of self.
One of the things I wholeheartedly believe in is that little Black boys and little Black girls who grow up with the message that you are nothing because you are Black … it’s easy for me to take you out. But if I look at you and I know that you’re great and I’m great, I may just have a different kind of level of respect for you.
I think that having a sense of self can impact how I look at myself and how I look at people who look like me.
Is there anything else you want to share?
Bryant: In my mind, this game is a must-have. It is so unique. Now, within the culture, we have trivia games and usually they’re trivia about sports or about entertainment and some about history, right? And usually, it pertains to people in the United States or events in the United States, culture in the United States.
This game contains movement around a physical board like Monopoly, but it also encompasses the entire African diaspora so it’s not just the United States. People who played this game tell me … they’ve never seen anything like it.
GriotSpeaks: The Game is best suited for players 17 and older. The game is available for purchase through Amazon or at the GriotSpeaks website.
Contact Editor-in-Chief Camike Jones at 317-762-7850.
The post Learn Black history and win your next game night appeared first on Indianapolis Recorder.
Based on reporting by Indianapolis Recorder.
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