President Biden, VP Harris invited to NNPA Convention as Black Press celebrates 197 years

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) will host its annual national convention from June 19 to 22 at the Four Seasons Hotel Baltimore. The NNPA is the trade association of the more than 250 African American-owned newspapers and media companies that comprise the Black Press of America. This year’s event, themed& “Empowering Black Press, Communities, Families, and Voter Turnout,”& marks the Black Press’s 197th anniversary, just three years shy of its bicentennial. The Black Press was founded in 1827, before slavery ended in America, with the publication of Freedom’s Journal in New York, published by John B. Russwurm and Samuel Cornish. The conglomerate has long championed the cause of African Americans and has been counted on for decades to rally the Black community around specific political candidates. “We wish to plead our own cause, for too long others have spoken for us,” declared Russwurm and Cornish in their inaugural issue. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have received formal invitations to attend the convention, and their participation is highly anticipated by the over 250 Black-owned newspaper and media company owners and their team of editors and journalists who are expected in Baltimore. With the 2024 election looming, Biden’s...