‘Beyond the Mask’ unmasked the importance of Black-owned media
18th March 2019 · 0 Comments
The historic Carver Theater recently hosted the NOLA Black-Owned Media Collaborative’s “Beyond The Mask” town hall forum, in which panelists discussed the impact of racial symbols and traditions in New Orleans. “This forum is vital in demonstrating that we, a community with a diverse array of opinions, are able to engage in healthy, solutions-based dialogue that educates and elevates our community beyond negativity to place where we can stand together and move forward,” said Susan Henry of the Black Media Collaborative. Henry is the general manager of WBOK 1230 AM radio station.
Other members of the collaborative include The Louisiana Weekly, The New Orleans Tribune, Data News Weekly, and Think 504.
The Louisiana Weekly, the oldest Black-owned newspaper in the southeast was co-founded by C.C. Dejoie and Orlando Taylor in 1925. Today, The Louisiana Weekly is published and edited by Dejoie’s granddaughter, Renette Dejoie Hall. The New Orleans Tribune has been owned by Beverly and Dr. Dwight McKenna in 1994, Data News Weekly was begun in 1966 with Joseph “Scoop” Jones at the helm, and today Data is published by Scoop’s son Terry B. Jones. Think 504 was launched in 2009 by Jeff Thomas, publisher and editor of the online news site. WBOK 1230 AM is currently owned by Bakewell Media of Louisiana. It’s principals Danny Bakewell Sr. and Danny Bakewell Jr. are native New Orleanians, who operate several businesses, including the Los Angeles Sentinel.
Attended by at least 200 community members, the debate focused on The Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club’s masking tradition. Organized in 1909 in New Orleans as the first African-American Mardi Gras parade krewe, the group formerly known as the Tramps became the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club in 1916. Throughout it’s 110-year history, members have “blacked up” their faces and whitened their lips, worn grass skirts, and in later years, gave out gold painted coconuts. To the casual observer and for those who don’t know the history, in costume, club members resemble the Black minstrels of the early 20th Century.
Although some African-American New Orleanians in the past have taken issue with the group’s wearing of blackface or “black make-up,” as Zulu members describe it, the recent scandal of white elected officials wearing blackface brought the local controversy back into the community consciousness and residents turned out and turned up to voice their opinions about the Zulu Club tradition.
The panel included educators Malcom Suber, Angela Kinlaw, and Michael “Quess” Moore of Take’Em Down NOLA, Attorney David Belfield, a Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club member, Leon Waters, a local historian, John Slade, cartoonist and radio host, and journalist, C.C. Campbell-Rock.
After the panelists weighed in on the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club’s costume tradition, audience members gave their opinions.
The majority of the speakers disagreed with Zulu’s “black makeup,” however, one member of the audience agreed with the blacked-up tradition and urged Zulu not to change.
More importantly, however, is the new collaboration of African-American media owners. The new collaborative came together to offer a town hall meeting on issues affecting the majority population of New Orleans, the Black community.
The united Black media effort underscores the importance of the existence of Black-owned media in 21st Century New Orleans. Without these outlets Black people here would truly have no voice.
With certain issues having a disproportionate impact on New Orleans’ Black community, it is essential that both discussions and solutions emanate from those who are affected.
The Black Press in New Orleans from the 1860s to the 1960s up until today, has played a pivotal role in civil rights, economic rights, and the constitutional rights of the city’s Black citizenry.
L’Union was published in French and English by Frank F. Barclay from 1862-1864. La Tribune de la Nouvelle-Orléans (1864-1868) (the first New Orleans Tribune) was the successor to L’Union when it folded, with Louis Charles Roudanez and Paul Trévigne at the helm. The Tribune, the first African-American daily newspaper in the United State, served as a voice for both free and freed African Americans in Louisiana, reflecting the changing attitudes of civil rights leaders. The Tribune printed the first page in the French of many free Blacks and the reverse in the English mainly read and spoken by freedpersons.
The Louisiana Weekly documented our segregated lives, our businesses, and our accomplishments, from segregation to desegregation, through the turbulent sixties, and the many “firsts” of our African-American history makers. The New Orleans Tribune stepped into the 1990s, seeking “silver rights” and economic reciprocity. The Tribune documents past and current local Black history. Data New Weekly covers movers and shakers in our community and touches on pressing issues. Think 504 chronicles opportunities and obstacles confronting black New Orleanians. WBOK offers in-depth discussions on issues impacting the black community and opens its phone lines for verbal feedback. All of these media provide platforms for telling our stories by us and for us.
The importance of the survival of the Black-owned media in New Orleans cannot be understated. These publications and WBOK (the only Black-owned radio station in New Orleans), are crucial to the advancement of the city’s Black community.
Because of their vital importance to the majority in New Orleans, citizens, Black businesses, and major corporations should support these beacons of justice. Citizens must subscribe, businesses must advertise, and corporations should pitch their products to a community that is known to be brand loyal.
To do less is to lose the wind beneath our wings; the keepers of our culture, our story tellers, our history, and our guiding lights.
This article originally published in the March 18, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
