JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Free Press, founded in September 1986 by Rita Carter Perry, marks a 40-year legacy of representing the Black press in Jacksonville.
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Perry, the state’s first Black woman publisher, launched the paper in the living room of her home and has sustained a lasting legacy since that moment. The Free Press is one of more than 230 African-American newspapers still printing in the United States.
Her daughter, Silvia Perry, serves as publisher and helps maintain the paper’s legacy and standards of excellence.
Rita Perry began her career at a newspaper in her hometown of Detroit, later worked in Albany, Georgia, and after moving to Jacksonville, wrote for the Florida Star before moving into radio and broadcasting. She collaborated with Ike Williams, publisher of the Jacksonville Advocate, another Black newspaper. When a legal battle arose over ownership of the Advocate, Rita Perry started the Free Press in 1986.
The paper later moved to the Afro-American Life Insurance building, now the African Methodist Episcopal building, before settling at 1122 Edgewood Avenue West.
Silvia Perry said she was a student at Raines High School when the paper began and that many friends and relatives worked there.
“Everyone would pitch stories in the living room,” she said. “Sen. Tracie Davis, Councilman Rahman Johnson, they have all worked at the Free Press, and our roots were in deep.”
Johnson, she said, was about 12 years old when he wrote a youth column, sold papers and did other duties at the paper.
Silvia Perry said the Free Press remains important for telling Black stories in today’s political climate.
“When everything from Black history to DEI and all kinds of diversity is no longer celebrated — being wiped from our history books — you have a place where you can go and not just see and read, but get your own story told and celebrate it,” she said. “Our mantra is to educate, empower and inform.”
She said her mother wanted the paper to provide positive coverage of Northeast Florida’s Black community.
“The Black press that was around [at the time]…its main focus was to get that big headline, no matter how that looked…she wanted to have a positive view, so our masthead still reads ‘Northeast Florida’s positive Black newspaper,’” Silvia Perry said.
That positive focus is appreciated by long-time readers like Eugene Eubanks, a subscriber for nearly 20 years.
“It’s a refreshing escape from just negative news about Black people and some of the things we hear about Black America on a continuous basis…we always hear about the negative inputs in our community so it’s a refreshing breath of air," she said.
Silvia Perry said the Free Press works to remain a credible source.
“We comb the internet, we comb these pages because it’s not always a reflection of each other…you want to be recognized as a credible source — somebody can say, ‘I saw it in the Free Press so I know it’s real,’” she said.
The paper also drew national attention recently after Lynn Jones, a credentialed media member and writer for the Free Press, went viral for offering encouraging words to Jaguars coach Liam Coen following a playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills. Silvia Perry said the response brought new subscribers from across the country.
“The attention was absolutely great, and I’m glad the Black press, now heading into its 200th year, is getting its just due,” she said.
Jones said the response has been overwhelming but that she remains focused.
“I gotta relax, stay focused,” she said. “I’m telling him to keep his head up; I need to keep my head up, too. I can’t let anything knock me off my square.” She added that she hopes her work moves the paper forward. “If they know that Lynn is a motivator, anyone will tell you that I’m a motivator. I’m going to give you some words of wisdom: Get yourself together.”
The Jacksonville Free Press continues its mission after 40 years. For more information, visit its official website.