Buying a home is a huge milestone, and it is important to educate yourself about the process of buying a home before you dive in headfirst. After all, this is likely the largest investment that you will ever make. It is important to choose a house and a mortgage that you don’t regret. Does Homeownership […]
Category: Baltimore News
Posted inBUSINESS
The AFRO at 130: six generations of Black excellence
By Maya Pottiger, Special to the AFRO Some families have recipes they pass down, others have jewelry or furniture. In the Murphy family, the AFRO American Newspaper has been passed down through generations for 130 years. Currently at the helm is Dr. Frances “Toni” Draper, the great-great-granddaughter of the paper’s founder, John Henry Murphy Sr. […]
Posted inNational News
Feminine Front: how the AFRO covered women in wartime
The AFRO has always prided itself in giving a voice to the backbone of Black society- the women who serve as daughters, sisters, aunts, mothers, church leaders, educators and yes– even soldiers. Shown here, AFRO coverage of the challenges and triumphs of Black women in the military. Help us Continue to tell OUR Story and […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
AFRO on the move: how traveling reporters kept readers informed from coast to coast
By AFRO Staff Black Americans experienced a new level of freedom as automobiles and public transportation evolved over time. Though it was dangerous to be a Black American on the wrong road at any time of day, the AFRO had courageous reporters who sent in updates on politics, education and the everyday lives of Black […]
Posted inNational News
Moses Newson: Black journalist extraordinaire and AFRO all star speaks at 95
By Kara Thompson, Special to the AFRO When the Freedom Riders risked their lives in 1961 to protest the segregated bus system in the American south, Moses Newson was there. When the University of Mississippi, a segregated college, admitted its first male Black student in 1962, Moses Newson was there. And when Martin Luther King […]
Posted inNational News
The AFRO at 130: a word from Publisher Frances “Toni” Draper
The not-so secret of success: “Believe in yourself, in God and the present generation.” “A newspaper succeeds because its management believes in itself, in God and in the present generation. It must always ask itself: whether it has kept faith with the common people; whether it has no other goal except to see that their liberties […]
Posted inReligion
AFRO News: 130 years of documenting the Black Church
By Fatiha Belfakir, Special to the AFRO Intertwined at the core, the AFRO will never cease coverage of the Black church. In fact, the AFRO American Newspaper was born in 1892 when John Henry Murphy Sr. merged three church publications in Baltimore. The former slave and Union soldier combined his Sunday School Helper, George F. […]
Posted inNational News
Congressman Kweisi Mfume reflects on the AFRO at 130
By U.S. Representative Kweisi Mfume (MD-7), Special to the AFRO For 130 years, the AFRO-American Newspaper has been the eyes, ears, and voice of our community. On the anniversary of its founding, we celebrate the irreplaceable role this publication has played in documenting our history, telling our story, and speaking truth to power. The newspaper was […]
Posted inNational News
Building on John H. Murphy Sr.’s legacy of truth in our Black history
By Maxine Johnson Wood, Ed.D., Special to the AFRO The founding of the AFRO-American Newspaper 130 years ago on August 13, 1892 is being widely celebrated, lauded and applauded. Of particular significance to many interested in its origin is the life, activity and motivations of its founding publisher, John Henry Murphy, Sr. A perusal of […]
Posted inNews
Man arrested on hate crime charges in church vandalism
By The Associated Press Police in Maryland have arrested a 66-year-old man on multiple hate crimes charges after racist graffiti was discovered at a church in Anne Arundel County. The Capital newspaper reports that the graffiti discovered at Kingdom Celebration Center Aug. 3 followed a similar incident last month, when a racist slur was found […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Maryland Legal Aid honors 98 year-old Baltimore native for decades of service and activism in her community
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member, msayles@afro.com When Baltimore native Gwendolyn Johnson was a little girl, the only thing she knew was that she wanted to be able to help people. Her mother had given her up when she was six months old, and another family took her in. “My […]
Posted inBaltimore News
#FaithWorks: The Moore Report: We’re saints too
By Ralph E. Moore Jr., Special to the AFRO The Social Justice Committee of St. Ann Catholic Church has been working on a letter writing campaign to Pope Francis for a year. Our initiative, which began on November 1, 2021 (All Saints Day and the first day of Black Catholic History Month) urged individuals to […]