As the Civil Rights movement developed, the black press covered breaking events across the country. Black newspapers sent reporters into whites-only lunch counters, to write about their experiences of being harassed and refused service. They covered demonstrations, riots, and speeches by leaders such as Dr.

Ethel Payne is known as the First Lady of the Black Press, because of her fearlessness as a journalist and a Civil Rights activist. Throughout her career, she witnessed some of the United States' most monumental moments and wrote about them in the Chicago Defender.

Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality programs and services to and advocate on behalf of black journalists. The organization has worked for diversity and to increase the number of minorities in newsrooms across the country. Washington, D.C.

The origins of the Black press date back to the early decades of the nineteenth century when African American men and women sought avenues to share accurate, meaningful stories of Black life and give voice to a wide range of Black experiences and the issues that mattered to them.