BEFORE THERE WAS CRT… 

The 1974 textbook war in Kanawha County was a precursor to the conflict around critical race theory. Read Kyle Vass’ story

THE UNITED STATES IS UNDER ATTACK

The United States is under attack. We take casualties by the dozens daily, by the hundreds weekly, and all told the attackers have put hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens in the ground. We have lost more of our fellow Americans in the past two years than we lost in combat over 245 years.

Story by Christopher Regan

WHITE PEOPLE DON’T ALWAYS KNOW I’M BLACK

That’s when their racism is revealed.The jokes, comments, and stereotypes always flow so freely. I speak up every time.

Commentary by Sarah Doneghy

Dear Readers,

I started BBG for many reasons but the one that motivates me to work so hard is the opportunity to support writers and content creators with inspiration, resources, training, and a publication that celebrates their uniqueness in West Virginia’s media landscape. 

As BBG from ages 12 to 112, we are excited to be a place for “First Published Authors” like Jayli. 

We know what we are up against: 

https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2022/aspen-times-vladislav-doronin-billionaire-lawsuit/

https://westvirginiaville.com/2021/03/social-media-wait-doug-reynolds-said-what-about-what-on-twitter/

But we know it can be done. History tells us so. 

Black newspapers have been in West Virginia since 1885, and we ain’t going anywhere. So I stand in the spirit of the editor of the West Virginia Digest, I.J.K. Wells (1944) who printed this plea to his readers:

“The West Virginia Digest, the people’s paper, will no doubt appear infrequently because of labor shortage and help.  It will not make its weekly schedule for some time.  Because you fail to see it every week, don’t think it’s dead.  The cause for which it stands cannot die, and because there is a need for a newspaper, this one or some other one will spring up from time to time.”

Please support our work — we depend on your donations!