A Black newspaper in Washington state gets a second life: ‘We can’t let the Black Lens die’

Spokane’s first African American newspaper, the Black Lens, was published by Sandra Williams. Photograph: Dan Pelle/the Spokesman-Review

One man wants to write an informed column on his experiences of being arrested dozens of times when protesting during the civil rights movement in segregated Chicago.

Another writer bags a profile on the author of a celebrated book into the psychological impact of slavery. And a woman originally from New Orleans talks about using genealogical records to discover she is descended from slaves owned by Jesuit priests.