Continuing a legacy
While Hill has been undergoing a crash course in running and publishing a community newspaper to give The Black Lens an initial push forward, the coalition is still planning to hire a permanent editor with journalism experience.
“The one thing Sandy didn’t get the opportunity to do is take [The Black Lens] to the next level, so it wasn’t something she didn’t have to carry on her own,” Hill said.
Williams was both the editor and the face of the publication for years. She founded The Black Lens in 2015 to provide a different perspective on the news. The publication sought to answer her question of what the news would look like if Spokane’s Black residents covered it.
Williams was involved in every aspect of the process, including delivering copies of the newspaper to various pickup points at Black churches and businesses.
The Black Lens was part of Williams’ public service efforts. She also served as executive director of the Carl Maxey Center, a nonprofit that runs programs and services to improve the lives of Spokane’s Black residents. Williams put The Black Lens on one-year hiatus back in early 2022 so she could focus more on the center.
The visible impact of her work helped both the nonprofit and the newspaper gain credibility among the city’s Black community and other allies and community members in Spokane.
“She created so many relationships with so many people in Spokane, and her integrity was unmatched. It’s not surprising to me that there are so many people that want to continue her vision and support it,” said Renika Williams.
In the weeks leading up to the newspaper relaunch, No-Li Brewhouse, a Spokane brewery, donated $10,000 and challenged other small businesses to donate.
Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley was friends with Williams and connected with her during protests following the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Those conversations led to the Spokesman-Review publishing stories from The Black Lens.
Curley also encouraged the Williams family to resurrect and sustain the paper so it wasn’t on the back of one individual, as it was with Williams when she ran the paper alongside her other work.
“I can’t let her legacy die,” he said.
Along with single copies being distributed in local Black businesses and churches, the Spokesman-Review will include the publication monthly in its Sunday edition.
Current and former Spokesman-Review editors and writers are also aiding The Black Lens with monthly contributor meetings, where potential writers and other contributors come and learn about the paper’s mission and how to craft stories and other media content and also volunteered time to do various jobs, such as copy editing and design.
Curley is also on the board of a nonprofit, Comma Journalism Labs, that will aid the publication in developing a model to fund and sustain community-backed independent journalism. One goal is to bring and replicate this model to other communities and cities, Hill said.
Curley had already worked with Williams following the Black Lives Matter protests in Spokane to get grant funding for a race and equity reporter that would write for both the Spokesman Review and The Black Lens.
The funding for a full-time editor is also approved. The goal is to get funding for a third full-time production position by the first anniversary of the paper’s re-launch. This position would do the work that is being donated by the Spokesman-Review journalists.
But while Comma would provide support for The Black Lens, the publication would operate under a separate nonprofit.
Ultimately, Curley said, The Black Lens is and will remain an independent entity, not a product of Spokesman-Review.
“All we’re doing is making sure [The Black Lens re-launch] happens because we care for it,” he said.
For Gardner, the NAACP president, even a temporary hiatus was difficult. The community is determined to work and ensure the publication isn’t at risk of closing down. The temporary loss of an outlet that reliably printed news and information about community events was a massive blow to the city’s Black community.
Hill said small businesses also were impacted because The Black Lens was a key source of gaining and retaining customers. One of the publication’s key features is a Black business directory.
“We’re really more eager to put our arms around making sure the publication is not just stood up but thrives,” Gardner said.
Mai Hoang
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