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CFP: The Black Press at 200 - Âé¶čAV

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CFP: The Black Press at 200

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CfP: The Black Press at 200
Howard University
Washington, D. C.
March 17-18, 2027
https://msrc.howard.edu

Co-sponsored by the Black Press Research Collective at the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University.

In March 1827, just over fifty years after the United States Declaration of Independence, Freedom’s Journal, the first Black newspaper in North America, declared: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” In March 2027, we mark the bicentennial of the Black Press, celebrating 200 years of Black journalism as one of the most vital and enduring institutions in American public life.

For two centuries, the Black Press has documented, shaped, and challenged the meanings of democracy in and beyond the United States. Across diverse political, cultural, and intellectual traditions, Black publications have provided a platform for expression, critique, and community formation insisting across generations that “America is not yet America.”

This free two-day symposium at Howard University, the home of the Black Press Archives, convenes scholars, journalists, archivists, artists, and students to celebrate, commemorate, and critically examine the past, present, and futures of the Black Press. Building on the 2026 volume, A Full Measure of Freedom: The Black Press at 200, the symposium treats the bicentennial not only as a moment of reflection, but as an opportunity to assess the ongoing significance of Black journalism as “the conscience of our nation.”

Submission Guidelines
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words for individual papers and panels that engage one or more of the following themes:
● Historical Legacies: The development and influence of the Black Press as an instrument of democracy, protest, and cultural politics. The Black Press as an engine of local and global change.
● Contemporary Practices: How Black publications speak to the present political and cultural moment. Current politics of ownership, funding and sustainability.
● Futures of the Black Press: Archival practice and preservation efforts. Digital and social media as sites for sustaining and reimagining Black journalistic traditions.

This symposium will be an inclusive space and we particularly encourage submissions from community scholars, independent researchers and practitioners. Attendance is free for all.

Submission of abstracts: September 18, 2026
Notification of Acceptance: October 30, 2026

Please submit proposals or questions to: mguy@blackpressresearchcollective.org