Jackson Advocate is an African-American weekly newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 in Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...

 founded in 1938 by Percy Greene

Percy Greene

Percy Greene was born on September 7, 1897 in Jackson, Mississippi. He was one of twelve children born to George Washington Green and Sarah Stone. At the age of 17, Greene joined the army. Greene studied law under black attorney-physician Sidney D. Redmond and attended Jackson State University....

. Mr. Greene was a veteran of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 and was a Civil Rights leader in the 1940s and 1950s. Greene was determined to make a contribution to the struggle of African-American people in the South during a time when they were severely oppressed by legal segregation and Jim Crow

Jim Crow laws

The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...

. In 1940 Greene and thirty other publishers formed a consortium of African American newspapers to bring relevant information to black readers in the USA. That association led to the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association, which promoted coverage of injustices against and accomplishments by African-Americans. In 1978, Charles Tisdale became the owner and publisher of the Jackson Advocate, positions which he held until his death in 2007.

The paper has received numerous awards and citations in its 68 years of service in reporting news and events in the African-American community, including the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus Award for Excellence, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...

 Journalism Award, and the National Black Chamber of Commerce Newspaper of the Year. In 1988 the magazine Newsday

Newsday

Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...

referred to the Advocate as a "national treasure."