In an evening that kicked off with African drumming and dancing, and ended with dancing the night away, The Washington Informer’s 60th Anniversary Legacy Gala on Friday celebrated six decades of the Black-owned news outlet and the unequivocal contributions of family businesses to the District’s history and vibrant culture.
With many guests inspired by the riddled theme “What’s black, white, and read (red) all over,” hundreds gathered at the historic Martin Luther King. Jr. Memorial Library in Northwest D.C. for the Informer’s celebration, themed: “Legacy, Culture, Vision.” Through a panel, photo exhibit and award presentations, the event showcased years of community service and unwavering allegiance to uplifting the District.
While she had been considering how to celebrate 60 years for quite some time, Washington Informer Publisher Denise Rolark Barnes noted her inspiration for the publication’s anniversary affair: the importance of family values and legacy businesses.
“To me, people don’t always understand legacy and why it’s important for family institutions to survive. This is about who we are — storytellers,” said Rolark Barnes during a panel at the gala, hosted by NBC Washington’s Molette Green and featuring the event’s Legacy Award honorees. “I just thought this was a moment to tell a story, to let others tell their story.”
In a culmination of two years of brainstorming and months of preparation, The Washington Informer’s 60th anniversary gala welcomed a cultural celebration of excellence, featuring fine dining, music, and a “Legacy, Culture, Vision” photo exhibit featuring highlights from the extensive Washington Informer archive.
While attendees — from community leaders and longtime readers to current and former staff of The Informer — basked in the night of fun, the evening also honored six individuals and organizations whose generational leadership has paved paths for many visiting and living in the Washington metropolitan area.
In a speech post the panel, during the 60th celebration Washington Informer Managing Editor Micha Green said the event celebrated “businesses, organizations and individuals who have contributed to sustaining and strengthening the beauty and breadth of District culture.”
In a surprise, the event also honored Rolark Barnes, who has served as publisher since 1994, taking over the role after the death of her father Dr. Calvin W. Rolark, who founded The Washington Informer on Oct. 16, 1964.
Guests such as Ibrahim Mumin, a former colleague of Dr. Rolark, honored the momentous occasion with gratitude and reflections.
“I told Denise, she may have decided that she wanted to be a ballet dancer or something else, but she chose to support the family business, and those of us in Washington, we are the beneficiaries, we’re grateful,” said Mumin, who added he was “so excited” to see how the “classy” celebration honored the publication’s legacy.
Further, in a video message presented before the panel, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser congratulated The Informer, as well as the six honorees, for being “champions of D.C.”
“For six decades, The Informer has been telling stories of the real Washington, ensuring that Black voices and achievements are not only recognized but celebrated,” Bowser said, before she thanked Rolark Barnes and the entire Informer staff for an “unwavering commitment to the truth and storytelling.”
The mayor also lauded the publication’s profound role in empowering Washingtonians.
“Your work is invaluable, and our city is stronger because of it,” she said. “Here’s to many more years keeping D.C. educated and informed.”
Legacy Business Panel Highlights Honorees, Family Values in Community Building
Rolark Barnes said, beyond a night of fun, she hoped attendees would leave the gala reaffirmed in the number one institution in the community: family.
“It all starts with family,” Rolark Barnes told the room on March 28. “We are, as my daddy used to say, ‘all we got.’”
During a legacy panel hosted in the library’s auditorium, six individuals received recognition and a customized award for continuing decades of generational leadership throughout the DMV area.
Among the honorees were: Adam Levin, Stacie Lee Banks, Kamal Ali, Stefan Lockridge, Cheryl A. Lofton, and B. Doyle Mitchell Jr., who were also profiled, respectively, in the paper’s 60th special edition.
“Coming to a room like this, the gravity of it and the importance of it, and the people I’ve shared the stage with, having those little moments like that really means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to my family,” said Levin, co-owner of Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center, founded in 1958 on H Street NE.
As the seats of the auditorium filled with local supporters, like Levin, each owner hoisted the honor with pride, while sharing their truths on owning a legacy business.
Lofton revealed her inspiration to continue the family tailoring business through Cheryl A. Lofton & Associates, noting a vision to make “people walking billboards,” while Rolark Barnes and Ali of Ben’s Chili Bowl emphasized the importance of innovation and communication to sustain a family business.
Meanwhile, Levin and Mitchell, president of Industrial Bank, expressed gratitude for the community’s role in supporting their respective institutions through the tests of time. Violent uprisings after the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pushed the Levins to relocate the Washington Music Center to its current location in Wheaton, Maryland; while Industrial Bank has survived the storied evolutions of U Street for 90 years.
“I think that the perseverance that all of our businesses have had speaks to the importance of community in difficult times like today,” Levin said. “We look inside of our communities, and that’s where we’ll find strength.”
Notably, the audience was pleased to learn of the interconnectedness of these varied institutions and how it speaks to their broader imprint.
Just before noting that she met her husband at Industrial Bank, Banks, who now owns the 80-year-old Lee’s Flower and Card Shop, Inc. on U Street, shared her personal connections to some of the other honorees on the stage.
“When I was at D.C. Youth Orchestra, we used to rent our instruments from [Chuck Levin’s] Washington Music Center, and of course we eat at Ben’s Chili Bowl; get our garments mended at Cheryl Lofton Tailoring, and we’ve been banking with Industrial Bank for the whole 80 years,” Banks said.
Lockridge, a teacher who currently teaches at KIPP DC and is the son and nephew of former District school board members William O. Lockridge and Calvin Lockridge, said he was grateful for the experience to listen to the longtime entrepreneurs.
The legacy educator shared his gratitude for the news publication of 60 years, which he called his “extended family,” as he highlighted The Informer’s continued commitment to report Black news with positivity and inclusivity.
“I’m just super excited to actually be an honoree for this evening,” Lockridge told The Informer, “and I thank them for everything they’ve done in the community.”
As a Washingtonian of 20 years, and customer of many of these businesses, Giselle Hunt told The Informer that the panel left her “galvanized” and “inspired.”
“Watching that panel and hearing the stories of all of the legacy business owners…was really beautiful,” Hunt said. “It just feels like the spirit of D.C. It feels like everything that The Washington Informer really stands for, and so I was glad to be in the room.”
The Washington Informer: 60 Years of Being a Voice for Black Washingtonians
Beyond honoring the generational leadership of others, Mumin said the gala showcased the treasured legacy of its founder, as well as that of the Black Press.
He applauded Rolark Barnes for not only continuing, but building upon her father’s legacy of spreading “positivity,” such as with The Informer’s weekly live talk show, “Let’s Talk.”
“Especially given what happened last November (with the election of President Donald Trump), and what we’re going through now, it’s important to have papers like The Informer and [Let’s Talk WIN-TV] that tells the positive story, and helps us to remember we’ve seen this movie before in terms of the rise of white supremacy,” Mumin told The Informer.
Meanwhile, the event’s mistress of ceremonies Micheline Bowman spoke highly of the value of investing in the Black Press. She counted The Informer as a “prime example” of the importance of continuing legacies that uplift the fearlessness of African Americans, especially in a time where Black culture is being threatened.
“Unfortunately, if somebody who doesn’t look like me tells our narrative…they can never understand what it feels like to be a Black person,” said Bowman, CEO of Bowman Media Group, LLC. “It’s important that we have Black people telling Black stories – the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Rolark Barnes told guests during the panel that The Washington Informer strives to execute that very vision: being the bearer of Black history in Washington, D.C., despite the reality that the publication can only do so much.
As the newspaper celebrates 60 years of changemaking, the Informer publisher remains rooted in a mission to champion Black stories for decades to come, ensuring that the legacy of local community leaders and trailblazers will forever exist in The Washington Informer.
“We know that 100 years from now, when people want to look back at Washington to know what were people doing, we know one of the first places they’re going to come to is The Washington Informer,” said Rolark Barnes. “We want to be able to say what each and every one of you have done to contribute to this community.”