Today, I understand why so many people often ask: "Where did the time go?" It seems like it was only yesterday, but in fact, it was in 1982, when yours truly founded a grassroots organization in Springfield, Illinois known as People United for Rights and Equality (PURE). The purpose of that organization was to be a monitor and a voice for Springfield citizens who had the least, that is, the least in terms of employment, salary, health care, homeownership, and, of course, the list goes on and on.

I would be remiss in my writing if I didn't thank God first and then our readers and advertisers for their support.

In reminiscing about yesterday, one meeting stands out more than the rest. It was when we, the members of PURE, wearing identical black T-Shirts, attended a public meeting with members of the Springfield Metropolitan Exposition Auditorium Authority Board, who at that time was the overseer for major entertainment at the Prairie Capitol Convention Center. We wanted to know why they were only selecting white singers and white entertainers to perform at the Center. And it was what happened after this meeting which lead to the birth of The Pure News newspaper. 

PURE NEWS USA Founder & Publisher, T.C. Christian, Jr. holding a framed copy of the first issue (November 1983) of PURE NEWS USA newspaper.

Apparently, there was a 'meeting after the meeting,' because there was not one  word of our presence or presentation mentioned in Springfield's daily State Journal-Register. I remember this reporter telling me: "I gave you guys (PURE) a big write-up last month, so I didn't think I needed to do it again so soon." I told him I wasn't interested in any special favors and his job was to report the news and tell it like it is. And that's when I knew, 'We must find another way to tell our story so that we can tell it like it is.'

So, the year 1983, gave birth to the Pure News newspaper with an initial circulation of 3,000 copies in Springfield. Today, the name has been changed to PURE NEWS USA because we want to inform you on what's happening around the country. Although, we sometimes boast of having a statewide readership of more than 50,000, we have no plans to park by our limited success.

We still remember the words spoken by Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm, publishers of the first African American newspaper in 1827, when on the front page of their Freedom's Journal; they declared: "We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us."
Today, the other media still wants to speak for us by handpicking one or two black leaders. And how can they possibly plead our cause when they frequently choose to blackout the news we can use?

We may be all grown-up, but not 'too grown' to complete the homework assigned by our history teachers, Samuel Cornish and John Russwurm. And with God's blessings, we plan to continue pleading our own cause. After all, we also call it PURE NEWS because "we tell it like it is!"