In Memoriam: Thomas H. Watkins, 88, Noted N.Y. Publisher

By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Thomas H. Watkins built a daily Black newspaper in New York City when few believed it could survive and even fewer wanted it to succeed.

Watkins, who died in December at 88, founded the New York Daily Challenge and made it the first Black-owned daily newspaper in the city’s history. From its headquarters in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the paper delivered sustained, unapologetic coverage of Black political power, economic interests, and community life, produced and controlled by Black ownership.

At its peak, the paper which continues today as a weekly generated nearly $30 million annually and employed dozens of African Americans in journalism, advertising, production, and management.

Publishers remembering Watkins have described him as a builder rather than a figurehead. He secured national advertising from corporations that had long dismissed Black publications. He insisted that Black readership carried measurable value. He proved it with revenue, payrolls, and longevity.

Watkins expanded his reach well beyond one paper. Over decades, he founded and acquired the Afro Times, New American, Jersey City Challenge, Patterson-Passaic Challenge, and Newark Challenge. Together, those publications formed a regional Black press infrastructure.

In a 2008 oral history interview, Watkins described Black newspapers as economic engines as much as civic institutions, and that advertising dollars spent in Black communities should remain there.

Former colleagues recalled that Watkins did not retreat from confrontation. The Daily Challenge covered police misconduct, housing inequity, political boycotts, and global liberation struggles at moments when such reporting carried professional and personal risk. When others hesitated, his papers documented.

Watkins also served as president of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and remained on its board for decades. His leadership helped strengthen cooperation among Black-owned newspapers while maintaining editorial independence.

Beyond publishing, Watkins spoke at historically Black colleges and national organizations, repeating a consistent message about economic control and narrative authority. He lived his later years in Brooklyn, continuing to advocate for Black financial empowerment and media ownership.