The Bay Area has a legacy of Black media. Early newspapers protested the inhumanity of slavery and the need for equal rights for Black people.
"The paper has always been committed to civil rights and complete equality. I think that's been the primary goal of the black press. It was our stated goal to attain first-class citizenship, and to be a watchdog for whatever injustices based on racism occurred to let the world know about it."
Thomas C. Fleming, 1997, co-founder of Sun-Reporter
Here are some of the early Black newspapers on the West Coast:
- Mirror of the Times
Founded: 1857
Ceased Publication: 1858
Oldest Black newspaper on the West Coast. - The Elevator
Founded: 1854
Ceased Publication: 1898 - San Francisco Vindicator
Founded: 1887
Ceased Publication: 1906 - Western Outlook
Founded: September 1, 1894
Ceased Publication: 1928
Editors: John Lincoln Derrick and Joseph Smallwood Francis
Published: Weekly
MOTTO:“A Journal Devoted to the Interests of the Negro on the Pacific Coast and the Betterment of His Condition.” - Oakland Sunshine
Founded: 1914
Ceased Publication: 1922 - California Voice
Founded: 1917
Aqcuired by Metro Reporter Newspapers (Sun-Reporter) in early 1960s - San Francisco Spokesman (The Spokesman)
Founded: 1931
Ceased Publication: 1935
Founder: John Pittman
Frequency: Weekly
Following the folding of The Spokesman, Pittman went on to write for People’s World—a West Coast communist party publication that was the only newspaper to hire Black people to write.8) The Reporter
Founded: 1944
Founder: Thomas Fleming
Sun-Reporter
Founded: 1945
Combined Dr. Carlton Goodlet’s The Sun (former editor of Howard University’s “The Hilltop”) and Flemings Reporter.
MOTTO: “That no good cause shall lack a champion, and that evil shall not thrive unopposed."
Do you know of any other early Black newspapers in the Bay Area?
