Celebrating 25 Years of Publishing

Hampton

By Jackie Hampton,

Publisher,

Hampton
Hampton

It seems like just yesterday when one week after The Mississippi Link observed its 10th year anniversary our cover read: “Barack Obama President Elect Nov. 4, 2008, Yes We Can.” I was so very proud to be a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) which is a trade organization, also known as ‘The Black Press, comprised of over 200 African-American owned community newspapers from around the United States.

We would be publishing in two short days that the first African American would be elected President of the United States of America. I still feel that same pride I felt ten years ago. I felt like singing and dancing and crying all at the same time. It was an awesome feeling that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Also in that same November 6 issue, we published an article written by then editor Gail Brown about Bernice Stimley, who at the age of 99 cast her vote for President Barack Obama on a hand-held voting machine. Stimley, who was a Mississippi Link subscriber, died in 2012 at the age of 103, but she had a hand in making national history when she cast her vote.

Today, The Mississippi Link is still healthy and viable. We are still a member of NNPA and ‘The Black Press,’ where through our credo we believe that America can best lead the world away from racial and national antagonisms when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, the Black Press strives to help every person with the firm belief that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.”

As a member of the NNPA board of directors and currently serving as national secretary I am proud of what this viable organization stands for throughout this country.

We are also proud to be a member of the board of directors for The Mississippi Press Association where we stand firm in the power of community newspapers to deliver unmatched content and audience view. Our 110-member newspapers are the leading source of news and advertising information in the communities we serve.

Many papers have folded over the last ten years. Others are only publishing online. God has been good. We have a wonderful audience of supporters and advertisers that continue to put their trust in us and to you I say we strive to never disappoint.

As we dedicate our anniversary publication to ‘Breast Cancer Month,’ we salute individuals and groups that are participating in the American Cancer Society Making Strides against Breast Cancer Walk here in Jackson  Saturday. This annual event unites communities in support of one another by honoring those that are touched by breast cancer and by raising awareness and much needed funds to fight this disease. We have friends and family that are living with breast cancer and others that have succumbed to it. We know survivors, like myself, that have been triumphant and now live cancer free.

For over ten years we have dedicated our anniversary issue to Breast Cancer Awareness and we hope that one day, we will live in a world where we can dedicate our anniversary issue to a world where there is no breast cancer.

We love what we do at The Mississippi Link. We have been on an amazing journey for over 25 years. We have incredible advertisers and subscribers, we have met incredible people, covered incredible stories, and I can’t help but salute and thank our staff of today and yesterday that continue to inspire me with their creativity and enthusiasm. We don’t always see eye to eye on certain issues but our determination to best serve our readers is something we always agree on.

We love it when you let us know what you like about us and if we ever disappoint you, we welcome those comments  as well. We are here to serve. We are here to groom interns, to teach what we know and to learn from others. We are not perfect but our desire to be the best we can be for this community goes unmatched.

Thank you for allowing us to see our Silver Anniversary as we look forward to many more years of being “Keepers of the Knowledge for People who speak the Truth.”

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