October Program Recap: “Fighting to be Heard”

PRSA Richmond welcomed Bonnie Newman Davis, managing editor of the Richmond Free Press, a 30-year-old Black-owned newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, as speaker at the October 2023 luncheon on Thursday, October 26.

In November 2022, Davis’ book “Truth Tellers: The Power and Presence of Black Women Journalists Since 1960” was published. For today’s luncheon, Amy Lacey, PRSA Richmond Board member, posed several questions to Davis to talk more about the process of her publishing her book, how she chose the featured women in the book and what she wants her legacy to be.

“When I started in this industry, there was not a lot of women features,” says Davis. “I wanted to feature women that weren’t household names, but their impact was great.” In her book, Davis interviewed 24 Black women journalists from around the country to tell the story of their individual experiences working in mainstream media.

During the luncheon, she challenged the audience to “not sit on your hands and be complacent”, but to “know your worth and value”. In May 2022, Davis became managing editor of the Richmond Free Press, a 30-year-old Black-owned newspaper in Richmond, Virginia. “It’s all about community”, noted Davis. Davis oversees the daily operations required for producing a weekly newspaper in a community of more than 300,000 people in Virginia’s state capital. She is responsible for executing the Free Press’ weekly editorial, news and photographic content/lineup, oversees the newspaper’s layout and design, employee hiring and retention, in addition to other administrative roles.

Davis ended her interview today with noting her book as being her legacy and wanting the book to serve as resource guide for our future generations to ask questions.

Thanks to everyone who was able to join. You can register for our November on our event page.