I'm looking for good online sources for African American news.

June 27, 2008 7:57 AM

I'm looking for good online sources for African American news.

I have been getting interested in a more pluralistic approach to current events as of late, and going along with a personal syllabus of Middle Eastern studies, I have been occasionally perusing a few Middle Eastern online newspapers (Egyptian and Turkish mostly), and to my delight, I'm getting the multiplicity of views I'd hoped for.

Recently, I've also begun preparing a mental syllabus of sorts for myself in terms of Black/African American culture, and one way I want to start priming myself for it (though it will probably be in the future, since I have quite a bit lined up for myself right now) is by reading special interest papers.

I found The Root somehow, and it's alright, but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Are there any other major sources out there that I can look through? If I find even just one worthy of visiting daily I'll be happy.

Thanks!

posted by parkbench to society & culture (6 comments total)

BET news has an African-American angle. Although it's still news from an entertainment channel, some of it is OK quality.
posted by cushie at 8:13 AM on June 27, 2008

NPR's News and Notes.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:23 AM on June 27, 2008

Most of the old black-owned newspapers (some dating back to the early 1900s) are long gone. They just couldn't get the advertising dollars. A few communities still have papers (The Amsterdam News comes to mind) but since they don't pay well, they end up with college kids looking for experience and who unfortunately just don't write very well or have the skills to conduct a good interview .... and those papers certainly can't afford to go online.

Your best bet is to take a look at some of the books written by many of the so-called black intelligentsia. Most are very timely. (Michael Eric Dyson, as far as I can tell, comes out with about a book a month.)

You could also look at Cornel West, Shelby Steele, Kevin Powell (yes, of the original "Real World" fame. He's running for Congress out of New York and has several books out). There are many more. Stop by your local bookstore and go to the African-American studies section. Check out anything that looks interesting to you.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 8:56 AM on June 27, 2008

You might also take a look at this guy's blog. He was featured on Talk of the Nation a few weeks back.
posted by notjustfoxybrown at 10:02 AM on June 27, 2008

Colorlines - "ColorLines is the leading national, multi-racial magazine devoted to the creativity and complexity of communities of color."

Blackprof - a blog about current events by black professors.

Prometheus 6 - community news AA aggregation blog

Racialicious - another communty blog, more geared toward pop culture than straight up news.

Black Commentator - "The Black Commentator's core audience is African Americans and the African world and their allies in the struggle for economic justice social justice and peace. It is also important to share Black American and African world perspectives with the rest of the world, a mission uniquely suited to the Internet.
Our focus is commentary, analysis and investigation, elements of political dialogue that are absolutely essential to the creation of movements for social change. Without regular forums for advocacy and debate, a people are at the mercy of their adversaries."

Black Press USA - "BlackPressUSA.com is the joint web presence of America’s Black community newspapers and the NNPA News Service — the last national Black Press news wire."

Since BET was mentioned, I should thrown in Blackvoices - "AOL Black Voices, the premiere site for African-American culture and community, offers African-American message boards, profiles and chats, African-American sports, African-American news, African-American entertainment, African-American style and beauty, relationship advice and more. Share your voice at BV!"

I can't opine on the quality of black papers in general but the one in my city does suck. Nevertheless: List of African American Papers in US
posted by nooneyouknow at 10:12 AM on June 27, 2008 [4 favorites has favorites]

The Defender
posted by timsteil at 10:52 PM on June 27, 2008