Bay State Banner

A little over a year ago, the Bay State Banner came under new ownership, signifying a fresh era for New England’s oldest and Boston’s only Black-owned weekly newspaper. Taking over from founder Melvin B. Miller, veteran journalists and entrepreneurs Ron Mitchell and André Stark aimed to uphold a legacy that spanned nearly six decades.

The Bay State Banner is hosting three Boston high school teams that recently won the coveted Massachusetts High School Basketball State Championships at the Boston Celtics vs. Charlotte Hornets game tonight. Read about their state championship wins in The Banner.

Melvin B. Miller, the former publisher and editor of the Bay State Banner, was inducted last Saturday into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.

It’s been a long and remarkable journey for the Banner, since publisher Melvin Miller first opened the Banner’s doors, stepping into the shoes of William Monroe Trotter and other black publishers who blazed the trail in the 19th and 20th centuries.

When the Bay State Banner’s first edition hit the streets in September 1965, the motto atop the front page reflected the values of the tight-knit Roxbury neighborhood where publisher Melvin B. Miller grew up. “Unity, Progress” and “Let’s Do It Ourselves” were not just self-help catch-phrases but statements of purpose drawing on a long history of Boston’s African-American community.

The year 2023 marks 57 years of publication for the Bay State Banner — more than a half century during which the newspaper's reporters, photographers and contributors recorded the events and ideas that have made history in Boston and beyond.

After 57 years as publisher of the Bay State Banner, it is time for me to step down.

My partner Andre Stark and I have purchased the Banner to preserve its legacy as a voice for people of color and expand its operations to better serve its readers in the 21st century.

A younger but seasoned generation of journalists is leading the Bay State Banner into its second half century in the wake of its sale Feb. 28 to a new Black ownership team.

Kay Bourne, who served as the Banner’s arts editor through the paper’s first four decades, passed away Sunday, Jan. 31. She was 82.