Black and Brown News

We have a proven, 11-year track record of doing the hard work. That is currency even in a crowded field. When BBN first launched in 2006, the digital news space was relatively novel. It was a time in digital news history when few niche outlets existed. Today, there is no shortage of news, information or special interest digital sources - niche or broad in scope. Sustainability remains a hurdle for BBN. The business side of what we do is as critical as the editorial content and technology side. Still, I am optimistic a sustainable and growth-worthy model will reveal itself; otherwise I would have pulled the plug on BBN long ago. Where does BBN fit in and stand out today? To stay in alignment with our core value and purpose, we will laser-focus on amplifying issues and voices that are underrepresented, ignored, excluded and nuanced. That is BBN's niche. BBN has to be a platform that impacts the lives of human beings, and we will meet the challenge of the day in digital form, in real-time, and by leveraging our currency. Unlike BBN 1.0 and 2.0, 3.0 is not overambitious in scope at relaunch. We learned lessons from the past, and the path forward will scale up as needed. BBN 3.0 will laser-focus on the specific issue of violence. We don't define violence solely as physical acts. We define violence as an act, policy or practice that is destructive to humankind: economic, environmental, anti-immigrant violence. Any practice, policy or law that impedes human progress, health and well-being. For our relaunch, we present Urgent Dispatch, a call for leadership to boldly and ambitiously act on addressing human and community trauma as a result of unrelenting and prolonged violence in Black neighborhoods. It is not a one-off article highlighting the issue. Rather, it is the beginning on an on-going communications and engagement campaign to amplify the issue toward the goal of remedy and impact. This includes amplifying the voices and organizations on-the-ground that are already engaged in the work. Behind the scene, I am mobilizing my network of influence to partner and collaborate on the campaign. [Read Urgent Dispatch in its entirety here OR the gist of it here.]