National

How Do We Talk To Our Young Girls About Baltimore? Residents & Community Leaders Weigh In

Published

10 years ago

May 16, 2015

By Christina Coleman
Special to the NNPA via The Chicago Defender

(NNPA) — The conversation surrounding police brutality in Black communities often excludes women of color, despite their very imperative role, and in many cases, the sacrifices they make.

While Michael Brown Jr., Eric Garner,Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray have all become symbols of state violence against marginalized communities, names like Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Tanesha Anderson, and Natasha McKenna are less known, although they also died at the hands of law enforcement.

But women aren’t important to the movement just because they too face the same horrors — women have created and sustained what has become the largest Black liberation movement in recent years as well. In fact, three Black women, two of whom identify as queer, founded Black Lives Matter.

NewsOne traveled to Baltimore, Md. in the wake of Gray’s death to talk to community leaders and women on the ground about how young girls in the community are coping and dealing with the traumas of state violence and Baltimore’s recent uprising.

“It is very different, a lot of females seem to try to attempt to carry the burden,” Anitra Washington, an educator at the all-girls Western High School told NewsOne.

“It’s a bit of a heavier burden because they don’t know what to do…they are watching someone else be impacted. Their thoughts were ‘how do they fix things…how do I make things better for my father, how do I tell my brother how to deal with the police?’”

And while girls are facing the same issues, Washington said many tend to focus on how to help the men in their lives — a burden that becomes too much for many young women to handle.

“Lots of the young women that I’ve dealt with, their fear is that they won’t be able to assist their male counterparts,” she said.

Resident Rolanda Chambers, accompanied by friend Linnyette Richardson-Hall as they distributed food to the community during Baltimore’s unrest, told NewsOne that faith is another way to cope with the recent incident, adding that helping the community in any way uplifts both men and women.

“We just wanted to do more than just pray, just march, just protest,” she said.

In just two days, she and Richardson-Hall passed out 400 meals to protesters demonstrating in the name of Gray.

Check out NewsOne’s exclusive video above to see how women in the community are helping the movement.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

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4 days ago

May 25, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

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5 days ago

May 25, 2025

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OP-ED: Oregon Bill Threatens the Future of Black Owned Newspapers and Community Journalism

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Nearly half of Oregon’s media outlets are now owned by national conglomerates with no lasting investment in local communities. According to an OPB analysis, Oregon has lost more than 90 news jobs (and counting) in the past five years. These were reporters, editors and photographers covering school boards, investigating corruption and telling community stories, until their jobs were cut by out-of-state corporations.

Published

6 days ago

May 23, 2025

Oakland Post

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
President and CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association

For decades, The Skanner newspaper in Portland, the Portland Observer, and the Portland Medium have served Portland, Oregon’s Black community and others with a vital purpose: to inform, uplift and empower. But legislation now moving through the Oregon Legislature threatens these community news institutions—and others like them.

As President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), which represents more than 255 Black-owned media outlets across the United States—including historic publications like The Skanner, Portland Observer, and the Portland Medium—l believe that some Oregon lawmakers would do more harm than good for local journalism and community-owned publications they are hoping to protect.

Oregon Senate Bill 686 would require large digital platforms such as Google and Meta to pay for linking to news content. The goal is to bring desperately needed support to local newsrooms. However, the approach, while well-intentioned, puts smaller, community-based publications at a future severe financial risk.

We need to ask – will these payments paid by tech companies benefit the journalists and outlets that need them most? Nearly half of Oregon’s media outlets are now owned by national conglomerates with no lasting investment in local communities. According to an OPB analysis, Oregon has lost more than 90 news jobs (and counting) in the past five years. These were reporters, editors, and photographers covering school boards, investigating corruption, and telling community stories, until their jobs were cut by out-of-state corporations.

Legislation that sends money to these national conglomerate owners—without the right safeguards to protect independent and community-based outlets—rewards the forces that caused this inequitable crisis in the first place. A just and inclusive policy must guarantee that support flows to the front lines of local journalism and not to the boardrooms of large national media corporations.

The Black Press exists to fill in the gaps left by larger newsrooms. Our reporters are trusted messengers. Our outlets serve as forums for civic engagement, accountability and cultural pride. We also increasingly rely on our digital platforms to reach our audiences, especially younger generations—where they are.

We are fervently asking Oregon lawmakers to take a step back and engage in meaningful dialogue with those most affected: community publishers, small and independent outlets and the readers we serve. The Skanner, The Portland Observer, and The Portland Medium do not have national corporate parents or large investors. And they, like many smaller, community-trusted outlets, rely on traffic from search engines and social media to boost advertising revenue, drive subscriptions, and raise awareness.

Let’s work together to build a better future for Black-owned newspapers and community journalism that is fair, local,l and representative of all Oregonians.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President & CEO, National Newspaper Publishers Association