The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's history of lifting the voices of the Black community

Since 1934, The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder has been sharing stories and lifting the voices of the Black community that often go unheard.

"When I think about the stories that we've told over the many years, there's like no one else has told them," said Tracey Williams-Dillard, the CEO and Publisher of The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. " So if they're not in our archives, they don't exist."

Williams-Dillard's grandfather started the paper — originally as the Minneapolis Spokesman and the St. Paul Recorder, until they merged in 2000.

"Being able to show the relevancy of our community today and the history that we've put into this community, and things that we've done that are positive, that are uplifting, that have helped to shape the culture of our communities. So it's very rich, and it's just a matter of making sure that we keep it alive."

That's not an easy task nowadays in a world where newspapers and print journalism are struggling to keep their doors open.

"We're losing newspapers. Newspapers are closing all the time. The viewers need to know it's not easy, and we need support."

"When you just look at this, and you get to looking back at some of these old stories, and you just see the community and all these different stories, it's unbelievable."

Some stories even shaped U.S. history.

"He played a big part in Humphrey being elected as mayor and then going off to be the Vice President in the United States, because here with him being a good friend of my grandfather, and my grandfather being a good friend of his, and telling the stories in the paper that black community supported my grandfather, and by way of that, they supported Humphrey."

Today, equally important stories need to be shared, and The Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder plans to be here to do it.

"What we try to do, and I think this was my grandfather, my grandmother are instilled with me is really just caring about the community and less about trying to make a lot of money. It makes me proud to know that there was someone that cared about the history of this community then, and I'm that same person that gets to care about it now."