Terri Sanders transforms Omaha Star: 87 years of Black women leading Nebraska’s iconic newspaper

In North Omaha, the legacy of The Omaha Star lives on, steadfast through decades of change and challenge. Since 1938, Nebraska’s only Black-owned newspaper has been a voice for the community, and now, under the leadership of Terri Sanders, it’s poised to become a national cultural landmark. “Paper’s been going 87 years. We have never missed a publication day. So, we can’t start with me,” Sanders said in a telephone conversation with NNPA Newswire. The mother of former vice-presidential advisor and MSNBC News journalist Symone D. Sanders-Townsend, Sanders said she remains committed to preserving Omaha’s beacon of Black journalism. Dr Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., NNPA President and CEO, Emphasized, “The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) congratulates Terri Sanders and The Omaha Star for outstanding service and leadership of the Black Press of America. Now there will be a national museum dedicated to the Black Press because of Sanders’ leadership” Since its inception, The Omaha Star has seen only five publishers, all Black women—a testament to the resilience and continuity that Sanders proudly upholds. She took the reins almost resistantly but with a sense of duty in 2020, right as the pandemic disrupted daily life, presenting her with an immediate trial...