List of African American newspapers in California facts for kids

California has a rich history of African American newspapers. These newspapers were created by and for Black communities. They shared important news, stories, and opinions, especially when mainstream newspapers didn't focus on Black voices.

The very first African American newspaper in California was the Mirror of the Times, which started in the mid-1850s. Even though there were fewer than 1,100 African Americans in California until the 1900s, seven Black newspapers were started in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1800s.

• Newspaper examples
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  Front page of the first issue of The Pacific Appeal, April 5, 1862

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  An early African American newspaper in Southern California, The California Eagle, from 1916

African American Newspapers in California

Newspapers in Northern California

Northern California

Northern California covers the northern two-thirds of the state. This includes the Central Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Albany

• Black Times: Voices of the National Community
  • Started: 1971
  • Ended: 1976 (maybe)
  • Type: Monthly newspaper

Fresno

• The California Advocate
  • Started: 1967
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Monthly, sometimes weekly

Menlo Park

• Ravenswood Post
  • Started: 1953
  • Ended: 1981
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Published by Clarence A. Burley.

Oakland

• The Black Panther
  • Started: 1967
  • Ended: 1980
  • Type: Weekly, biweekly, or monthly

• Illustrated Guide: The recognized organ of the Colored people
  • Started: 1892
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This was the official newspaper for the Afro-American League of Alameda County.

• Oakland Post / Oakland Sunday Post
  • Started: 1963
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly, triweekly, daily, or semiweekly

• Oakland Sunshine
  • Started: 1897
  • Ended: 1922
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Published by J.M. Bridges.

• Oakland Times
  • Started: 1869
  • Type: Daily (except Sunday)

• San Francisco Post / San Francisco Sunday Post
  • Started: 1963
  • Type: Twice weekly or weekly

• Berkeley Tri-city Post
  • Started: 1985
  • Type: Weekly

• Western American
  • Started: 1926
  • Ended: 1929
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Published by S. DeWitt Moss.

Richmond

• Richmond Post
  • Started: 1963
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Twice weekly
  • Note: This newspaper is part of the Post News Group.

Sacramento

• The Forum
  • Started: 1906
  • Type: Twice weekly
  • Note: Published by Rev. J. Gordon McPherson.

• The Sacramento Observer
  • Started: 1964 (maybe)
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly

San Francisco

• African American Chronicle
  • Started: 1991
  • Ended: 1993 (maybe)
  • Type: Monthly newspaper

• The Elevator: A Weekly Journal of Progress
  • Started: 1865
  • Ended: 1904
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Edited by Philip A. Bell.

• The Free American
  • Started: 1866
  • Type: Weekly

• The Lunar Visitor
  • Started: 1862
  • Type: Monthly
  • Note: Founded by John Jamison Moore.

• Pacific Appeal / The Pacific Appeal
  • Started: 1862
  • Ended: 1880
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This newspaper took over from Mirror of the Times.

• San Francisco Reporter
  • Started: 1942
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Edited and published by W.A. Hambrick.

• The Sun Reporter
  • Started: 1943
  • Type: Weekly

• California Voice
  • Started: 1919
  • Type: Weekly

• Western Appeal
  • Started: 1919 (maybe)
  • Type: Twice-monthly
  • Note: Edited by G.E. Watkins.

• Mirror of the Times
  • Started: 1855, 1856, or 1857
  • Ended: 1862 or 1858
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This newspaper was later replaced by the Pacific Appeal.

• Peninsula Metro Reporter
  • Started: 1972 (maybe)
  • Ended: 1993 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• San Francisco Bay View
  • Started: 1976
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Biweekly

• San Francisco Metro Reporter
  • Started: 1972
  • Type: Weekly

• San Francisco Vindicator
  • Started: 1884
  • Ended: 1906
  • Type: Weekly

• The Western Outlook
  • Started: 1894
  • Ended: 1928
  • Type: Weekly

San Jose

• The Forum
  • Started: 1908
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Edited by J. Gordon McPherson.

• The Phoenix
  • Started: 1891
  • Ended: 1892
  • Type: Daily (except Monday)
  • Note: This newspaper took over from the San Jose Daily Times.

Stockton

• Progressor / San Joaquin Progressor
  • Started: 1969
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This newspaper was partly in Spanish.

Newspapers in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California covers the southern third of the state. This area includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, San Diego, and the Inland Empire region.

Altadena

• The Eagle (1973–?) / Pasadena Eagle (1968–1973)
  • Started: 1968
  • Type: Weekly

Bakersfield

• The Bakersfield Advocate
  • Started: 1970s
  • Ended: 1979
  • Type: Weekly

• The Colored Citizen
  • Started: 1914
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This paper was advertised as "The Only Paper Published in the Interests of Colored People Between San Francisco and Los Angeles."

• The News
  • Started: 1957
  • Type: Monthly newspaper
  • Note: Published by Isaiah E. Owens.

• Bakersfield News Observer
  • Started: 1977
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This newspaper is part of the Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California.

• Outlook / The News Publication (1950s–1961) / The Outlook: The News Publication (1961–1964) / The Outlook (1964–1966) / The Outlook News (1966–?)
  • Started: 1950s
  • Type: Twice-monthly, later weekly

Beverly Hills

• The Ethiopian Mirror
  • Started: 1993 (maybe)
  • Type: Monthly newspaper
  • Note: This paper was partly in Amharic and was for the Ethiopian-American community.

Compton

• Compton Bulletin
  • Started: 1970 (maybe)
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly

• Metropolitan Gazette
  • Started: 1967 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Edited by Mildred L. Hamm.

• Compton Star Review
  • Started: 1927 (maybe)
  • Note: This paper existed from 1971–1973.

Culver City

• Culver City Wave
  • Started: 1925
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: This newspaper is part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

Hollywood

• The National Record
  • Started: 1944
  • Ended: 1993 (maybe)
  • Type: Monthly newspaper.

Los Angeles

• African Connection Newspaper
  • Started: 1988 (maybe)
  • Type: Biweekly

• South End Bee
  • Started: 1934
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• Bronzeville News
  • Started: 1943
  • Type: Weekly

• Herald-Dispatch
  • Started: 1952
  • Type: Weekly

• The California Eagle
  • Started: 1879
  • Ended: 1965
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Published from 1914 to 1951 by Charlotta Bass.

• Central News Wave
  • Started: 1963 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Firestone Park News & Southeast News-Press
  • Started: 1954 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• Florence Messenger
  • Started: 1939 (maybe)
  • Ended: 1983 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Became part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Florence News
  • Started: 1986 (maybe)
  • Type: Twice monthly

• The Illustrated Journal
  • Started: 1956
  • Type: Weekly

• Los Angeles Black Voice
  • Started: 1968
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: See Black Voice News.

• Los Angeles Herald
  • Started: 1950 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• Pacoima Herald-Dispatch (published in Pacoima)
  • Started: 1952
  • Type: Weekly

• New Age Dispatch or New Age
  • Started: 1907
  • Ended: 1949
  • Type: Weekly

• Los Angeles Bay News Observer (published in Inglewood)
  • Started: 1986 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Observer Group Newspapers of Southern California.

• The Weekly Observer
  • Started: 1888
  • Ended: 1888
  • Type: Weekly

• Liberator
  • Started: 1901
  • Ended: 1913
  • Type: Weekly

• The Pacific Defender
  • Started: 1923
  • Type: Weekly

• Pacific Enterprise
  • Started: 1927
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Edited by William A. Venerable.

• Los Angeles Sentinel
  • Started: 1933 or 1934
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly

• Watts Star Review
  • Started: 1875 or 1929
  • Type: Weekly

• Angeles Mesa Wave
  • Started: 1978
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Hawthorne Wave
  • Started: 1981
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: A Los Angeles Wave publication. It took over from the Inglewood Hawthorne Wave.

• Inglewood Wave
  • Started: 1981
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• Southwest Wave
  • Started: 1920
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Topics / Sun Wave
  • Started: 1942 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Westchester Wave
  • Started: 1921 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• The Western Clarion
  • Started: 1926 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• The Western Dispatch
  • Started: 1921
  • Type: Weekly

• The Western News
  • Started: 1889
  • Ended: 1889
  • Type: Weekly

• Inglewood Hawthorne Wave
  • Started: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Later replaced by Inglewood Wave and Hawthorne Wave. Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• L.A. Watts Times
  • Started: 1976 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• The Los Angeles Community Circle News / Los Angeles Community Circle Clipper (published in Los Angeles / Inglewood)
  • Started: 1989
  • Type: Bimonthly newspaper

• Los Angeles Illustrated Reflector
  • Started: 1934 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

• Los Angeles Tribune
  • Started: 1941
  • Ended: 1960
  • Type: Weekly

• The Los Angeles Truth
  • Started: 1935 (maybe)
  • Type: Unknown

• The National Negro Press
  • Started: 1970 (maybe)
  • Type: Unknown

• The Search Light and Open Sesame
  • Started: 1893
  • Ended: 1908
  • Type: Weekly

• Southeast Star Wave
  • Started: 1938 (maybe)
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Southern California Guide
  • Started: 1892
  • Ended: 1895
  • Type: Weekly

• Southside Journal Wave
  • Started: 1937 (maybe)
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Southwestern Sun Wave
  • Started: 1947 (maybe)
  • Ended: 1987 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Tribune Mesa News Wave
  • Started: 1978
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• Wave
  • Started: 1958 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Part of the Los Angeles Wave newspaper family.

• United Pictorial Review (published in Los Angeles or Bakersfield)
  • Started: 1965 or 1966
  • Type: Weekly
  • Note: Published by George Scott Jr.

Pasadena

• The Western Herald
  • Started: 1925 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

Redlands

• The Colored Citizen
  • Started: 1905
  • Ended: 1906
  • Type: Monthly newspaper
  • Note: Published by Robert Henry Harbert and H.A. Harroll.

Riverside

• Black Voice News
  • Started: 1972
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly

San Bernardino

• Precinct Reporter
  • Started: 1965
  • Type: Weekly

• The San Bernardino American
  • Started: 1969
  • Type: Weekly

San Diego

• San Diego Voice & Viewpoint
  • Started: 1960
  • Still publishing today!
  • Type: Weekly

• San Diego Eagle
  • Started: 1923 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

Santa Ana

• The Orange County Star Review
  • Started: 1971
  • Ended: 1973 (maybe)
  • Type: Weekly

See also

• List of African American newspapers and media outlets
• List of African American newspapers in Arizona
• List of African American newspapers in Nevada
• List of African American newspapers in Oregon
• List of newspapers in California