Note From the Publisher | What Holds Us Together
There are seasons when a community is measured not by what it celebrates, but by how it holds one another through change, loss, uncertainty and new beginnings. This edition of The Chronicle News made me think deeply about that. What holds us together? Sometimes it is family. Sometimes it is friendship. Sometimes it is a teacher, a neighbor, a church, a community organization or even a stranger who decides that somebody else’s struggle matters. Sometimes it is simply refusing to allow a person’s life, work or contribution to disappear without being remembered. That is part of the responsibility of a community newspaper.
For 40 years, The Chronicle News has existed because Black communities have always understood the importance of telling our own stories and preserving our own history. Black history is not something that happened only in February or decades ago. We are creating it every day, in our homes, businesses, schools, churches, neighborhoods and institutions.
Our elders are Black history. Our children are Black history in the making. The people who build businesses, raise families, mentor young people, serve their communities, overcome what was supposed to destroy them, and make room for somebody coming behind them are part of that history too. And sometimes history looks remarkably ordinary while we are living it.
That is why this edition moves between remembrance and possibility. We honor lives that deserve to be remembered. We introduce you to people doing meaningful work. We talk about education, health, aging, foster youth, civic participation and the issues affecting Michigan communities.
Not every story is joyful. But underneath these pages is something I believe deeply: Community is what happens when we decide we belong to one another.
A newspaper can report what happened. But a community newspaper should also help preserve who we were, document who we are and make room for who we are becoming.
That has been the work of The Chronicle since 1986.
And as we continue expanding into communities across Michigan, we aren’t leaving that foundation behind. We’re carrying it with us. Because what holds us together isn’t geography. It’s people.
In Solidarity,
Yanice Y. Carter, MBA, CSSB
Publisher & Editor
The Chronicle News
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