WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Black Press Week, the annual celebration of the nearly two centuries-old mission of Black-owned newspapers, will be fueled this year by the fact that the 183-year-old civil rights institution is continuing to plead its own cause even as it fights for the rights and honors the achievements of others.

"When Mr. Russwurm and Mr. Cornish said, 'We wish to plead our own cause. For too long have others spoken for us', they began publishing the very first Black newspaper on March 16, 1827," says Dorothy R. Leavell, chair of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation, which leads the annual event in Washington, D.C. "It certainly is momentous because 183 years later with a Black President in the White House, we still have to plead our own cause. As evident in the lack of meaningful outreach to count all African-Americans in the United States in the Census that's now being conducted; it's evident in many of the advertisers in this country who shun us even though we have strong economic impact upon the economy of the United States and the World."

These and other key Black Press issues and issues of Black America will be the points of discussion during a State of the Black Press Luncheon/Forum at the National Press Club on Thursday, March 18, from noon until 2 p.m. The forum will feature NNPA Chairman Danny Bakewell giving a "State of the Black Press" address with a response by Leavell. Panelists will include the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Bennett College; Dr. Ron Daniels; NAACP Chair Roslyn Brock; Harry Alford, National Black Chamber of Commerce; and Marc Morial, National Urban League.

Among those to be honored during the annual NewsMaker of the Year Awards Dinner beginning with a reception at 6 p.m. on March 18 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel are civil and social justice warriors Dr. Dorothy I. Height, chair and president emerita of the National Council of Negro Women for her lifetime of civil rights achievements; Dr. Ron Daniels, president of the State of the Black World, 21st Century; Earl and Amanda Stafford of the Stafford Foundation; and Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins for their outstanding community service; Rep. Barbara Lee, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus will be awarded for her political leadership; and a posthumous salute will be given to entertainer Michael Jackson as the 2009 NewsMaker of the Year.

SOURCE National Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation