Singer John Legend has made a splash by speaking out on the Black Lives Matter movement. After the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, Legend went viral for his tweets condemning the killing of Blacks by police. He also recently wrote an open letter to President Obama urging clemency for nonviolent drug offenders. The singer doesn’t shy away from including racial politics in his work, either, as he produced WGN’s enslaved African drama “Underground” and contributed music for the historical film “Selma.”
Colin Kaepernick Takes a Knee
Since August, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has protested the national anthem during NFL games because of the oppression of Blacks in America. After moving from sitting to kneeling, pressure mounted for the NFLer to call off his protest, but he continues his demonstration, now with the public support of his parents. Kaepernick has been seen in T-shirts of such activists as Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X, and he has made several philanthropic gestures, including sending jersey proceeds to Black communities.
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.
