The Silence of Black Wealth: When the Billionaires Turned Their Backs on the Black Press

October 31, 2025

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump donated $50,000 to the Black Press two months ago and publicly challenged other wealthy Black entrepreneurs and celebrities to contribute, but his call has been met with near-total silence. Despite approaching numerous billionaires and millionaires—including Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Jay-Z, and Magic Johnson—the Black Press received rejections or no responses from virtually all of them, even as they requested advertising partnerships rather than charity. This abandonment occurs while the Trump administration has terminated over 300,000 Black women from federal jobs and attacked diversity initiatives, making the Black Press's role as an employer and voice for the community more critical than ever.

Who is affected

The Black Press of America (over 200 newspapers and media companies)
Hundreds of Black men and women employed by Black Press organizations and their families
More than 300,000 Black women terminated from federal jobs
Hundreds of thousands of other Black men and women affected by anti-DEI policies
Historic Black newspapers including Chicago Defender, New Pittsburgh Courier, EBONY, Amsterdam News, Philadelphia Tribune, Afro American Newspapers, St. Louis American, Los Angeles Sentinel, The Michigan Chronicle, and The Washington Informer
Benjamin Crump (civil rights attorney and donor)
Mark Cuban (donor through Cost-Plus Drugs)
Black communities served by these media outlets

What action is being taken

Benjamin Crump has donated $50,000 to the Black Press
Mark Cuban has donated $100,000 through his Cost-Plus Drugs company
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has introduced the Federal Government Advertising Equity Accountability Act in Congress
The Black Press continues operating its newspapers and media companies
The Trump administration is terminating federal employees and implementing anti-diversity policies
Companies are laying off and firing workers

Why it matters

This situation matters because the Black Press represents a 200-year-old institution that has historically served as the primary voice and record-keeper for African American communities when mainstream white media would not. At a critical moment when the Trump administration is eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs held by Black people and attacking diversity initiatives, the Black Press functions not only as a truth-teller but also as an employer providing economic stability for Black families. The potential collapse of these institutions would erase an irreplaceable archive of African American struggle and triumph, and the article argues it would represent abandonment by the very community members who were once uplifted by these publications. The irony is particularly sharp given that wealthy Black entrepreneurs who benefited from early coverage by Black newspapers are now refusing to support them.

What's next

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's Federal Government Advertising Equity Accountability Act would require federal agencies to publicly disclose advertising spending with small, disadvantaged, minority-owned, and women-owned businesses in their annual budget justifications to Congress
The legislation would compel agencies to include both prior year spending and upcoming year projections

Read full article from source: The Washington Informer