Black By God, West Virginia’s only Black newspaper, celebrates four years of operation
By Joe Severino, RealWV
Black By God: The West Virginian came to life four years ago in response to the state’s decaying media landscape, as well as a dream finally coming to fruition for its founder, Crystal Good.
Black By God is the only Black newspaper in West Virginia, a state that hasn’t had a Black press operation since the Beacon Digest closed in 2006. Good, who’s worked as a poet, performer and lobbyist, said it’s been a longtime goal of hers to own a newspaper. Good even inquired about buying the Beacon Digest as a teenager, but was turned down.
Good, a Black woman and West Virginia native, said she witnessed first-hand how the white lens of news in the state did little to impact the lives of Black West Virginians. She wanted to do news different from the decades-old practice of blindly following tips from police and county officials, and instead center people in the community that weren’t often featured.
Most crucial to that mission was reviving the Black press, which was a tall task. There were just 14 Black-owned newspapers in West Virginia in the 150 years before the birth of Black By God.
She drew early inspiration from her father, Wes Armstead, a journalist and Charleston native. Armstead worked many different blue-collar jobs before taking work as a nighttime custodian at WCHS television station in Charleston. He became interested in media through this experience, and eventually earned a job as a cameraman.
Armstead worked his way up the ranks, becoming a well-respected man in the industry. He was named news director of WVVA in Bluefield in 2019, and retired in 2022.
Armstead died in April 2023. Good said she’s always drawn inspiration from her father’s journey, and he was crucial to forming her media dreams as a teenage girl.
“My dad worked his way up from janitor to news director,” she said. “He taught me the art of the story and local news.”
Good carries his legacy, as well as the other few Black journalists in West Virginia history, through Black By God. The newspaper is both online and in print. Its free editions are circulated statewide by volunteers who pile papers into their cars and drive them all across country roads.
Much of Black By God is made possible through volunteers and former journalists with West Virginia media experience. It’s a process that takes a lot of time and effort.
“I feel like everybody that works on Black By God – whether it’s proofing or carrying papers – puts that sweat equity into it, which you can’t really measure,” Good said.
It’s been a lot of sweat and hard work over the last four years to make these 50, 60-page editions, said Good. Typically, print editions have come during Black History Month and Juneteenth.
Black By God’s next edition will be published this month to celebrate Black History Month. Look for the print at local businesses in your community.
Looking back, “I’m just really thankful that I did follow through on my ambitions,” said Good. “It’s just interesting how it manifested.”
She’s referring to the racial justice movements in 2020 that followed the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the “white guilt” money that flowed into Black By God during its first months of operation. Good said that money has dried up, but the newspaper is now in a better position to grow its business side.
Good said she’s happy how her website has grown, and that she’s created a more seamless way for businesses to advertise in Black By God.
“This year it’s very, very critical that we get that financial support,” she said. “Then, I will really be excited and ready to show off the kind of content that Black By God can do.”
Good said that includes reaching a younger audience in a way she feels Black By God is capable of.
West Virginia’s media landscape has fallen hard through the decades, but with independent media operations like Black By God, stories will live on. The newspaper covers topics from agriculture, to history, business and community events.
