Minnesota’s oldest Black-owned newspaper and business turns 90 [Video]

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – The archive room at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder is filled with thousands of headlines going back nearly a century.

But one in particular chronicles a remarkable achievement of its own.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy and happiness, and it just feels phenomenal. That’s all I can say. To know that my family’s legacy has made it 90 years through the rough times and the tough times, and we’re still here despite it all.” said owner Tracy Williams-Dillard.

Her grandfather, Cecil E. Newman, started the weekly newspaper 90 years ago to give a voice to the voiceless.

When the first issue came out on August 10, 1934, it cost 5 cents and carried a front page promise from Newman to “speak out fearlessly and unceasingly against injustices, discrimination, and all imposed inequalities”.

“Our focus is making sure that the African American community is being treated with respect and in the way that they should be. and …