The storied impact of The Washington Informer precedes itself an impetus to preserve African American culture. Through inclusive reporting and vital collaborations, the publication forges paths for African Americans and unapologetically promotes truth and justice in the retellings of history.
One of these collaborations is touted through Dr. Karsonya “Kaye” Wise Whitehead, president of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the creators of Black History Month.
“When we’re trying to amplify our Black History Month message, we rely on The Informer to uplift and to center the mission of creating, understanding, teaching and preserving Black history,” said Whitehead. “The Washington Informer has always been one of the many outlets for us, and the hope is that they will continue to do so.”
In the wake of The Informer’s 60th anniversary, and 198 years of the Black press, the legacy newspaper dons an enduring commitment to supporting the local community beyond weekly print editions and digital uploads.
By partnering with ASALH, The Informer strives to educate and inspire readers with the chronicles of African American leadership. Meanwhile, collaborating with local business owners, and associations like the Greater Washington DC Black Chamber of Commerce (GWBCC), remains key to uplifting the Black trailblazers of today.
Ahead of The Informer’s 60th Anniversary Legacy Gala – which celebrates the notable milestone and six local family businesses – Whitehead applauded the publication for its historic role in the Black press and ability to emulate the continued relevance of Black media.
She noted that, as a native Washingtonian, she grew up reading several local news outlets and quickly recognized the value of Black storytelling, particularly in the lens of The Informer.
“When we look at how exciting it is that The Washington Informer has been able to do that work over the last 60 years, you’re talking about years of resistance, years through the Civil Rights Movement, years through us working with Black Lives Matter. Years through the building out of the Black middle class that [The Informer] has been there to cover our stories, and to continue to be a firm anchor that is needed when… it feels like the bottom is being washed out from underneath of us,” Whitehead said. “That’s when The Washington Informer is even more important.”
Highlighting Black Businesses, Education, Representation Across the Diaspora
Like Whitehead, Juanita “Busy Bee” Britton, president of BZB International, Inc., knew about The Informer long before the collaborative partnership that has thrived for 30 years.
The entrepreneur became an avid supporter of the paper during the 1980s, and has since spearheaded the role of an instrumental partner, including promoting The Informer amid her own reach and sponsoring the legacy gala on March 28.
“We have got to partner with what’s out there, what’s left that we’re trying to build and continue to grow even farther,” Britton told The Informer. “It is vital to the [Black] community’s success.”
While The Informer promotes BZB International through advertisements and event coverage, such as the annual ‘Shop Til Ya Drop’ showcase, Britton happily campaigns on behalf of the paper both locally and internationally. The community leader shared that she collects copies of The Informer to take regularly to her village in Ghana, where Britton often leverages the newspapers to enhance literacy and demonstrate the connections of the diaspora.
“They’re reading stories, [and] they’re using them for vision boards. They use the subjects, the titles of the stories, the pictures and the images [The Informer] uses,” Britton said, adding that she also mails print editions to a friend and Washingtonian in Portugal.
“I share the paper with Black people all over the world,” she said proudly.
Whitehead noted that The Informer’s impact as a forcefield for representation is part of what stood out about the publication when she was younger. She recalls her dad, a longtime Informer reader, compelling her with the difference in coverage between local Black media outlets and mainstream publications like The Washington Post.
“It has been the Black Press where…we expect and have been able to get the inner workings of the community, interlocking moments in which our community is able to express more than just terror and pain, but moments of love, laughter, family and community,” Whitehead said. “We look to see our full selves kind of reflected back to us through the Black press.”
ASALH and The Informer work together, amplifying the vision of the Black Press through the annual Black History Month series. Following ASALH’s annual theme each February, The Informer closely centers coverage around African American contributions and achievements, while also highlighting programming, like the organization’s yearly luncheon.
This year, guided in ASALH’s theme “African Americans and Labor,” The Informer produced dozens of stories on Black labor workers, from the barrier breaking efforts of Mary McLeod Bethune and George Washington Carver to the imprint of the first Black labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
According to Whitehead, the “excellent coverage” has dutifully served the ASALH’s mission.
“As we move farther into this particular administration, [the hope] is that the partnership The Informer has played with us in terms of uplifting our message, but also sharing what we’re doing and keeping us informed about what else is happening within the Washington D.C., area…will continue and will grow,” Whitehead told The Informer. “I think we need to rely on one another more now than ever.”
Entrepreneurs Tout Value of Continuing Partnerships
GWBCC Chair Corey Griffin seconds the importance of intersection between Black institutions, notably touting how working with The Informer has been “immensely” beneficial to furthering the mission of the organization founded in 2017.
“The Washington Informer, oftentimes, is the only reputable news outlet where we can have copy on our activities and events, but also we’ve been given the wonderful opportunity to write op-eds and contribute our thoughts to issues…whether it be legislative matters or general economic issues, that have an impact to our membership and to Black businesses,” Griffin told The Informer.
An affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, GWBCC was established to provide Black businesses with the support that lacked from the DC Chamber, which was once the Negro Chamber of Commerce, according to Griffin.
Now, officially incorporated as of 2019, GWBCC works to increase revenue and growth for Black-owned businesses – like BZB International – across the region.
Through advocacy, education and networking opportunities, the collaborative efforts of The Informer and GWBCC has helped shape entrepreneurial spirit in Washington and continue the fight for equity in corporate America.
“I think it is an inextricable partnership,” Griffin said.
Moreover, he notes the sustainability of these partnerships is vital to the growth of the Black community overall.
“To the extent that we are able to work together, we should do that, and we should be intentional about it,” Griffin told The Informer. “I would say, for Black businesses, really think well about where you spend your dollars, and I would encourage that you look to Washington Informer and other Black press outlets to do your advertising and to support.”
Both Griffin and Britton also lauded Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes for her mutual interests and profound leadership that has not only propelled The Informer forward, but helped do the same for their respective platforms.
Britton said she looks forward to celebrating the legacies of excellence, including Rolark Barnes herself, on March 28.
“We’re just so fortunate to have the strength of The Informer, the push and the tenacity of Denise’s leadership [that] has continued to make this a viable option for us to get our message throughout our community,” Britton told The Informer. “I cannot wait to see her just be applauded by the community at large for all the hard work that she’s done to continue the legacy of her father.”
