New Journal and Guide’s Brenda Andrews Earns Publisher of Year

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Brenda Andrews publisher of the New Journal and Guide newspaper in Norfolk, Va., won the coveted Publisher of the Year Award at the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) annual convention in Cincinnati on Thursday, June 27.

Andrews, who hosted last year’s convention, was greeted with a standing ovation as she ascended the platform to accept the award from NNPA Foundation Chair Amelia Ashley-Ward, the publisher of the San Francisco Sun Reporter.

The Miami Times (10 awards), Philadelphia Tribune (9), and St. Louis American (7) were the biggest winners of the night.

Included in the Miami Times’ awards was the John B. Russwurm Trophy that’s presented to the newspaper that accumulates the most points in NNPAF’s annual journalism competition.

During the ceremony, Ashley-Ward asked for prayers for Miami Times Publisher Rachel Reeves whom Ashley-Ward announced was gravely ill.

Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry accepted the awards on behalf of the Miami Times and pledged to personally deliver them to Reeves and her family.

In 1827, Russwurm co-founded Freedom’s Journal with Samuel E. Cornish, the country’s first African American-owned and operated newspaper with the credo: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.”

The awards were hosted by MillerCoors.

Other NNPA partners and sponsors include: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; General Motors; Pfizer Rare Disease; RAI Services Company; Ford; Macy’s; Wells Fargo; P&G; Volkswagen; American Petroleum Institute; AARP; Ascension; AmeriHealth Caritas; Fifth Third Bank; and the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation (NNPAF).

California Sen. Kamala Harris opened the program via a video message of support and encouragement.

“Thank you for the work that you do … a free and independent Black Press is critical,” Harris said.

The 2020 presidential hopeful who received the 2018 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year Award during a ceremony last year, couldn’t attend the event because she was in Florida participating in the second night of debates for Democratic candidates.

During the ceremony, Ford and General Motors formally announced scholarship awards while Kerri Watkins, the publisher of the New York Daily Challenge, handed out the George Curry Award in honor of the late Black Press editor.

Among the highlights were the award for Best Editorial, which went to the Miami Times.

The St. Louis American and the Los Angeles Sentinel finished second and third respectively in that category.

The St. Louis American earned first place in the Best Column Writing category while the Miami Times finished second and the Michigan Chronicle third.

The Philadelphia Tribune took the top prize in the Community Service Award category while the Michigan Chronicle finished second and the Miami Times third.

The Final Call earned top honors for Best News Story, while the Birmingham Times finished second and Texas Metro News earned the third place prize.

The Birmingham Times earned first place for Best Feature Story while the Atlanta Voice and Houston Defender finished second and third.

In the Best News Picture category, the Richmond Free Press won first place followed by the New Pittsburgh Courier and the Philadelphia Tribune.

The Los Angeles Sentinel won top honors in the Best Editorial Cartoon category while the Washington Afro-American won second and third place.

In the Best Layout Design Category, the Birmingham Times won first place while the Philadelphia Tribune and the New Pittsburgh Courier finished second and third.

The Philadelphia Tribune, St. Louis American and Houston Forward Times won first, second and third place respectively for Best Special Edition.

The Miami Times, Houston Forward Times and Washington Informer finished first, second, and third in the Best Youth Section category and the Miami Times, Gary Crusader and the Washington Afro-American finished first, second and third in the Best Use of Photographs category.

“We are all winners tonight,” Ashley-Ward said. “When one of us wins, we all win.”

View the recorded livestream of the ceremony below.

Oakland Post

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By Rita Charleston

We know him and love him as the Godfather of Funk. But George Clinton is so much more.

After singing doo-wop on street corners in his hometown of Plainfield, New Jersey, as a teenager, Clinton was just a young musician when he opened a barbershop and began to style hair.

“We did the great finger waves of the ‘50s. To be a singer during that era, you had to have your hair done,” Clinton recalls. “And so the barbershop became the R&B star of the neighborhood. It also gave me a place to rehearse my own kind of music.”

And rehearse he did, for when he was not styling hair, Clinton was making music and forming Parliament-Funkadelic — or P-Funk — a collection of rotating musicians made up of two individual bands, Parliament and Funkadelic. Their distinctive funk style drew on psychedelic culture, outlandish fashion, science fiction, and surreal humor.

Influenced by the likes of late 1960s artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone and Frank Zappa, Clinton later moved to Detroit and developed a relationship with Motown where he became a songwriter and producer.

“To me, being there was like being with one big, happy family,” says Clinton, who will be appearing June 6 at Franklin Music Hall. “There was Smokey Robinson and Berry Gordy, and production teams like Ashford and Simpson, and so many more. And they all left a lasting impression on me.”

Eventually leaving Motown, Clinton settled in with different record labels for a time. And the P-Funk music ruled Black music during the 1970s thanks to Clinton’s magical managerial style, with 1978-79 being their most successful year.

But the 1980s saw Clinton becoming more and more embroiled in legal matters resulting from a myriad of royalty issues, and eventually deciding to strike out on his own. But his musical roots were never far behind.

The early 1990s saw the rise of funk-inspired rap, thanks to folks like Dr. Dre, and funk rock, thanks to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. All that helped reestablish this music man as one of the most important forces in the recent history of Black music.

But Clinton never had any doubts that he and funk were in it for the long haul.

“I always felt like we were gonna kill with our music. Everybody wants to have fun and that’s what funk is all about,” he says.

And the business has recognized what Clinton is all about many, many times. Over the years he’s received a Grammy, a Dove (gospel), and an MTV music award. He’s also been recognized by BMI, the NAACP Image award, and Motown Alumni Association for Lifetime Achievement. Clinton’s Parliament/Funkadelic was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

And although this tour was to be Clinton’s last, he seems to have changed his mind. He says with all the legal problems continuing, he’s decided to keep going for at least another year.

“So as of now I have no immediate plans to retire. Maybe next year I’ll be ready to take it easy. But I still enjoy what I do,” he says.

This article originally appeared in The Philadelphia Tribune. 

Staff Writer

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