Minnesota’s Oldest Black-Owned Newspaper Turns 90

The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's owner, Tracy Williams-Dillard, intends for the family legacy to be carried on by her daughter.

Minnesota’s oldest Black-owned newspaper turned 90 years old on Aug. 10. The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder’s owner, Tracy Williams-Dillard, celebrated the paper’s rich history.

She said, “I’m overwhelmed with joy and happiness, and it just feels phenomenal. That’s all I can say. To know that my family’s legacy has made it 90 years through the rough times and the tough times, and we’re still here despite it all.”

The Spokesman-Recorder will celebrate its 90th anniversary with a St. Croix River yacht cruise, as well as a gala at the historic Depot in Downtown Minneapolis.

The weekly publication was started 90 years ago by Cecil E. Newman, Williams-Dillard’s grandfather, to “give a voice to the voiceless.”

Newman sold issues for just 5 cents a pop, and on the front page of every issue, he wrote a promise to “speak out fearlessly and unceasingly against injustices, discrimination, and all imposed inequalities.”

“Our focus is making sure that the African American community is being treated with respect and in the way that they should be. and if you’re not, we hold you accountable,” it read.

The Minnesota-based paper has been dedicated for nine decades to uplifting the Black community by telling stories that would typically be ignored. With a central focus on the Black experience, Williams-Dillard’s paper covers topics from Barack Obama’s election to the police brutality enacted against George Floyd in South Minneapolis.

“We are both the oldest African American newspaper in Minnesota. We are the oldest Black-owned business in Minnesota and we are one of the oldest African-American newspapers in the country. So we’re proud,” Williams-Dillard told Fox 9.

She expressed that she intends to pass on the family business to her daughter one day so that she can carry on her family’s legacy.

Williams-Dillard added, “The community needs the Spokesman-Recorder now more than ever.”