I think I was destined to become a journalist because I’ve always been insane. Perhaps a kinder word is neurotic.

I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember and telling stories for even longer. I always had an active imagination, but the world really opened up for me when I found out how many real stories were sitting right in front of me. I picked up a camera when I found out how many weren’t being told.

This time a year ago, I halted a meeting to raise concerns about our lack of Black History Month coverage. At a time when a new wave of ICE agents had come to Chicago, we had diverted our attention from Latine and Black stories in favor of an exhaustive list of Valentine’s Day ones.

I was and still am one of two Black editors at our publication. The other is Genesis Coffey, our design editor. Between us, we have our fingers on the pulse of the visuals you see every week, but not always on the stories you read.

Across The DePaulia’s 103-year history, this is our first ever Black History Month issue. It’s been a long time to overlook a community so large. With this issue, we want to renew our investment in telling Black stories, regardless of what month of the year it is. 

The burden of a newspaper is to deliver consistent news and stories that appeal to the heart of our community. It’s not a goal that we can accomplish in one go; it’s something we work towards day in and day out. 

Everyone at The DePaulia does this work because we care. We care about telling community stories, we care about making inroads, and we care about educating our readers. Our paper is always growing. With ever-evolving coverage like our Black History Month issue and many others, I hope it continues to grow in a way that reflects the diversity of DePaul’s community.

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• Riding Horses on the South Side: These are Chicago’s urban cowboys
• Black Student Union to host Casino Night gala for Black History Month
• Evan F. Moore, writer and a mentor, on giving back to community