5 Reasons Why Every Black Person Should Support Independent Black Schools

With everything that is being thrown at the Black community, with all the challenges we face, there is a sense of urgency to act now, to support our own Black institutions, to uplift our community and give back to ourselves and grow our legacy. What better place to start than with our educational institutions?

Schools are the key to the future of the Black community, but not just any schools. To ultimately guarantee our success, Black people must fund and support Black-owned and operated educational institutions. This means seizing control of the educational process of our children, guiding the development of young Black minds to act in the interests of the Black community, and securing our liberation in the process. Who else will do it, and why would they? And why should we search for a savior, a superman or superwoman to solve our problems and make it right, when we are the heroes we have been waiting for in the first place?

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

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