''Black Lens News'' is a monthly

African-American newspaper African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

based in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...

History

The newspaper was founded in 2015 by Sandra Williams who acted as the newspaper's publisher and editor. Williams, who partly grew up in the Spokane area, remembered that the region used to have the newspaper ''African American Voice'', which covered topics relevant to the Black community. She got the idea for creating a new newspaper for the Black community while her father was dying and came out with the first issue in January 2015. A

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

report noting the disproportionate use of force on African Americans in Spokane shaped her vision for the paper, and was the focus of its first lead story. The newspaper was originally twelve pages and has expanded to 20. It contains Black news highlights from other sources both local and in the larger world as well as local sections such as its "It Takes a Village" section which highlights accomplishments of local people and a regular column "Thoughts from a Grandmother". The newspaper primarily circulates through Black churches and businesses and contains a directory of Black-owned businesses. Williams ran the paper until she died in a floatplane crash near

Whidbey Island Whidbey Island (historical spellings Whidby, Whitbey, or Whitby) is the largest of the islands composing Island County, Washington, Island County, Washington (state), Washington, in the United States, and the largest island in Washington stat ...

on September 4, 2022. She was 60. The paper went on hiatus until relaunching in February 2024 with a new website. Williams’s family, several foundations, local businesses and some journalists from ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'' created a non-profit to run the paper following the founder's death. And

Gonzaga University Gonzaga University (GU) ( ) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Spokane, Washington, United States. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges ...

has plans to provide office space.

References

External links

Official Website
African-American newspapers Mass media in Spokane, Washington Newspapers published in Washington (state) 2015 establishments in Washington (state) Newspapers established in 2015 {{Washington-newspaper-stub