Black Press

Hometown -- Easton Current members --Willis Kurtz, drums; Ben Tucker, bass, guitar and vocals; Cody Finkner, guitar, bass and vocals Founded in --2006 Style --punk/hardcore Influenced by --Choking Victim, Led Zeppelin, the Replacements, Gram Parsons Notable --The trio recorded an album mostly live in a friend's bedroom for free until the wee hours of the morning. Surprisingly, none of the neighbors complained or called the police. Quotable --"It would be 2 o'clock in the morning, and I'd be up there screaming my head off," Finkner said.

Like most films depicting historic accounts of real-life events, the bio-epic "42" carries the immediate disclaimer that it is based on a true story, leaving room for interpretive analysis and creative license. Consequently, dramatic interpretations are by their nature subject to scrutiny and debate. While the film sticks close to the well-chronicled historic record regarding Jackie Robinson's unique place in time as the first African American to play in the major leagues, its sins are mostly of omission.

WASHINGTON -- During the past decade, I have read much in mainstream journalism trade journals about how black newspaper publishing, a champion of African-American rights during segregation, was a victim of its own success and was dying. It was said that black audiences don't want news. Fueling this misconception was last year's cancellation of Emerge and BET Weekend, two prominent national black magazines owned by Black Entertainment Television. Black Americans -- particularly affluent ones who buy cars, televisions and homes -- only want entertainment magazines and comedy/music shows on television and radio, the naysayers said.

"Red Tails," the years-long project of director George Lucas, is sure to bring some overdue attention to the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black aviation unit that fought discrimination in the U.S. military as well as our enemies in World War II. Reviews for the movie have not been outstanding, but I'm looking forward to seeing it anyway. (Then again, I've watched "The Longest Day" over and over.)  According to a National Park Service history of the Airmen, before 1940, blacks were barred from flying for the U.S. military.

I don't like the television industry practice of running most or all African-American-themed programs in February in connection with Black History Month. It can create a television ghetto and cause the programs to blur together. One result is that a lot of fine programming gets ignored.Don't let the clutter keep you from seeing "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords" tonight on PBS. Filmmaker Stanley Nelson's documentary blends biography, historical analysis, media critique, interviews and use of imagery to skillfully tell a story that needs to be heard.

Levi Henry Jr. founded The Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale in 1971 to tell the story of South Florida's black community, passing the business down to his son, Bobby Sr., when he retired. The Henrys say their newspaper and others in the black press have become pillars of the African-American community, right behind the family and the church. But they fear that pillar could collapse in the wake of a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership restrictions.

UNTIL the early 1950s, the white press in Baltimore (principally The Sun, The Evening Sun and the Baltimore News-Post) did not concern itself much with covering the black community. The chief responsibility for recording black Baltimore's life and times then lay with the Baltimore Afro-American Newspapers. About 100 years of the records and photographs behind those stories are now in the Afro-American Newspaper Archives and Research Center (AANARC), temporarily located on the campus of Bowie State University.

The Baltimore-based Afro-American, celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, is one of only five black-oriented newspapers established before 1900 still publishing today. That kind of longevity merits recognition.The first black newspaper in the United States, Freedom's Journal, was established by Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm in New York City in 1827. The second was North Star, founded by Frederick Douglass in 1847 to agitate against slavery. Through their persistent calls for equal rights for all Americans, these two papers defined the mission of the black press for the next 150 years.

Patricia Rush-Martin, publisher of the Standard Newspapers serving Chicago's South Side and southern suburbs, went into the business when many black-owned newspapers were taking a brutal financial beating.Looking back over her career, Mrs. Rush-Martin, a former elementary-school teacher, acknowledges that launching a newspaper was quite a gamble -- if not downright naive. But it is paying off."It took us two to three years to become profitable," she said. "But we've been that way ever since."

"Red Tails," the years-long project of director George Lucas, is sure to bring some overdue attention to the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black aviation unit that fought discrimination in the U.S. military as well as our enemies in World War II. Reviews for the movie have not been outstanding, but I'm looking forward to seeing it anyway. (Then again, I've watched "The Longest Day" over and over.)  According to a National Park Service history of the Airmen, before 1940, blacks were barred from flying for the U.S. military.

Hometown -- Easton Current members --Willis Kurtz, drums; Ben Tucker, bass, guitar and vocals; Cody Finkner, guitar, bass and vocals Founded in --2006 Style --punk/hardcore Influenced by --Choking Victim, Led Zeppelin, the Replacements, Gram Parsons Notable --The trio recorded an album mostly live in a friend's bedroom for free until the wee hours of the morning. Surprisingly, none of the neighbors complained or called the police. Quotable --"It would be 2 o'clock in the morning, and I'd be up there screaming my head off," Finkner said.

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Congressional Black Caucus pressed President Bush on post-Hurricane Katrina reconstruction aid, the war in Iraq and social programs during an hourlong meeting at the White House yesterday. The Democratic House members said afterward that they would take Bush at his word that he would consider their concerns about the slow pace of reconstruction in New Orleans and his proposal to make budget cuts in federal health care programs. Several lawmakers said their expectations were low heading into the session -- which some, including Rep. Maxine Waters of California, chose to skip.

Levi Henry Jr. founded The Westside Gazette in Fort Lauderdale in 1971 to tell the story of South Florida's black community, passing the business down to his son, Bobby Sr., when he retired. The Henrys say their newspaper and others in the black press have become pillars of the African-American community, right behind the family and the church. But they fear that pillar could collapse in the wake of a ruling by the Federal Communications Commission to relax media ownership restrictions.

More than 50 African-American Baltimore County residents met yesterday to discuss problems with development and schools in the county's growing black population and the paucity of minorities in the upper echelons of county government. Representatives of community groups, churches and other organizations at the meeting said they had been complacent for too long and pledged to find ways to force the county government to address their concerns. "The education of our children is suspect and lacking, and the overall quality of life for African-Americans is substandard," said James R. Pennington, president of the Banneker Community Development Association and one of the lead organizers of the event.

WASHINGTON -- During the past decade, I have read much in mainstream journalism trade journals about how black newspaper publishing, a champion of African-American rights during segregation, was a victim of its own success and was dying. It was said that black audiences don't want news. Fueling this misconception was last year's cancellation of Emerge and BET Weekend, two prominent national black magazines owned by Black Entertainment Television. Black Americans -- particularly affluent ones who buy cars, televisions and homes -- only want entertainment magazines and comedy/music shows on television and radio, the naysayers said.

I don't like the television industry practice of running most or all African-American-themed programs in February in connection with Black History Month. It can create a television ghetto and cause the programs to blur together. One result is that a lot of fine programming gets ignored.Don't let the clutter keep you from seeing "The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords" tonight on PBS. Filmmaker Stanley Nelson's documentary blends biography, historical analysis, media critique, interviews and use of imagery to skillfully tell a story that needs to be heard.

Donald L. Miller believes there is a segment of African-Americans who are not being properly served by most newspapers. In fact, he's banking on it.Mr. Miller, a retired vice president of employee relations with Dow Jones & Co. Inc., is the chief executive officer and publisher of Our World News, which is slated to begin publication in Baltimore in the summer as a national newspaper aimed at black readers. Mr. Miller says he plans to take the black press -- which historically has consisted of magazines and local newspapers -- to a different level.

WHEN PLESSY v. Ferguson sprang from the Supreme Court, it met with mild surprise and routine coverage by the white press in Maryland. The following day, there was a brief mention on the front page of The Sun, a short story on page two, but no blaring headlines to mark the legal stamp of approval given Jim Crow laws.An editorial titled "Separate Coaches for Colored Passengers" appeared on page four. It was a masterpiece of myopia which suggested that "[t]he necessity for such a law exists only in the South."

I'll tell you what. I give ya fifteen dollars t'drive me to Pariah fo'a couple'a days . . . Yeah, man, I ain't lyin'.''Let's see it.'Mouse got that wary dog look again and said in a quiet voice, 'I ain't never asked you to prove nuthin', Easy.'"From Walter Mosley's new book, "Gone Fishin' "Two men are going on a trip. They climb into a '95 Lincoln Town Car, a blue so dark it looks black on this snowy night in Greenwich Village. As the driver heads south, the two men chat easily about their mutual business in the half-sentences and unfinished thoughts common to long friendships, though their friendship is not a particularly long one.The car pulls up outside Nkiru, a book store in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood.

WHEN PLESSY v. Ferguson sprang from the Supreme Court, it met with mild surprise and routine coverage by the white press in Maryland. The following day, there was a brief mention on the front page of The Sun, a short story on page two, but no blaring headlines to mark the legal stamp of approval given Jim Crow laws.An editorial titled "Separate Coaches for Colored Passengers" appeared on page four. It was a masterpiece of myopia which suggested that "[t]he necessity for such a law exists only in the South."