Candidates’ Issues Include AI, Vision, Visibility

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From the campaigns of Ken Lemon, Errin Haines and Dion Rabouin.

Candidates’ Issues Include AI, Vision, Visibility

A few bold ideas, pledges to boost training in artificial intelligence and bolstering local chapters emerged as leading topics in the first joint appearance by candidates for office in the 50th anniversary year of the National Association of Black Journalists, which, with more than 4,500 members, is the nation’s largest organization of journalists of color.

Incumbent president Ken Lemon, reporter at WSOC-TV in Charlotte, N.C., is challenged by Errin Haines, editor at large at The 19th, contributor to MSNBC and a former vice president – print; and Dion Rabouin, “a veteran multiplatform journalist who has worked as a reporter, editor, anchor and host for global publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Yahoo Finance,” in his words.

The Zoom call, sponsored by the Washington and Baltimore associations of Black journalists, attracted as many as 51 participants for the 90-minute call, which featured candidates for national and regional positions on the NABJ board of directors.

Lemon joined fresh from helping to cover an immigration raid on a fire-equipment company accused of hiring immigrants who lack proper documents and used fraudulent social security numbers. He told the group it was “frustrating to see what is happening,” and went on, in his campaign message, to say that NABJ and its affiliate organizations had stood up “to speak truth to power” at media outlets during his tenure.

[Lemon elaborated to Journal–isms on Thursday, “The ICE enforcement was at a business in Kings Mountain, NC . There were immigrants from Mexico in the country legally detained by ICE . I spoke to their children. They were afraid that their parents [may] be swept away like other high-profile cases of people deported though they were in the country legally. We learned today, their family members were questioned and released much later than other employees.]

NABJ has told offending media organizations that “you just can’t treat our journalists this way,” Lemon said, and cited the need to expand leadership opportunities for members. He added that he had watched as journalism jobs had shrunk in his own workplace. “I am working to help journalists facing job losses and cuts,” Lemon says in a campaign pitch. “I’m doing more to extend careers and opportunities. Together, we can make a difference.”

Rabouin — he said that to pronounce his last name, think “you’re goin’ with Rabouin” — promised the most radical changes of the three presidential candidates, saying he would install a chief technology officer who would build relations with tech companies and pass along the latest skills, such as those involving AI, to members. The difference between his promises and others’, Rabouin said, is that he has provided “a blueprint and a road map” in his five-point plan.

Rabouin also called for diversifying sponsorships and providing $25,000 to local chapters to create other revenue streams, and repeated his contention that the national organization is not investing wisely, letting $2 million “sit in a checking account earning zero interest” and missing out on $5 million with unproductive investments. Rabouin also said the NABJ website should become a “LinkedIn for Black journalists.” He also pledged a “rapid response team” that includes lawyers, civil rights groups and labor unions to help members needing assistance.

Executive Director Drew Berry has not responded to a request for comment on the investment issue.

Haines said members had told her that NABJ is not “in the moment,” and that the association “needs to be a front-line defender of Black journaists. We have a story to tell. We should be celebrating the work of Black journalists year round,” not just at convention time.

Haines’ campaign has issued three newsletters to date. In the June 20 edition, she wrote, “In Detroit, the question wasn’t just who’s running — it was who’s ready. At the NABJ-Detroit forum, Errin Haines made the case not just for her candidacy, but for a more courageous, responsive, and visionary NABJ. When asked how she’d improve the convention, she didn’t hesitate: more programming on AI and the future of work. Real support for freelancers and independents. A focus on wellness and safety for Black journalists covering volatile assignments.

“The convention should feel like a return on your investment — not just a reunion.”

In a four-way contest for vice president – digital, Tre’vell Anderson and Angela Smith emphasized training and more assistance for local chapters, with Anderson also raising NABJ’s sexual harassment policy, saying “It’s just a bunch of words without enforcement.”

Smith cited a Pew Research study showing that people of color felt unprepared for AI, and, in addition, she called the NABJ website difficult to navigate.

Pew reported that about six in 10 members of the general public, 59 percent, and AI experts, 60 percent, said AI will lead to fewer journalist jobs over the next 20 years.

Roland Martin, internet entrepreneur, suggested that NABJ members need training not just in how to produce digital content, but how to monetize it. He also called for a targeted marketing campaign to successful executives who are NABJ members, in which they would each donate $100,000.

The fourth candidate, Vance Lang, was not present.

[June 28 update: on LinkedIn, Martin endorsed Haines for NABJ president and Raelyn Johnson for NABJ VP-Broadcast.]

Other contested races, with candidate statements, are listed here.

Journal-isms: NABJ President to Face Two Challengers (May 28)

Washington Association of Black Journalists: Watch the Zoom meeting (June 28)

A Sweet Fundraiser for Journal-isms (video)

June 24, 2025

Part One: https://www.journal-isms.com/a-sweet-fundraiser-for-journal-isms

Part Two: https://www.journal-isms.com/a-sweet-fundraiser-for-journal-isms-cont/

Video and photos by Shevry Lassiter

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Junette Pinkney interviews members of a group that, according to its bio, “have created positive, loving, and socially conscious message music that matters as it pertains to spiritual fortification, and consistently taken an activist stance toward making this planet a better place for all in which to live.” (Credit: Shevry Lassiter/YouTube)

Sweet Honey in the Rock Discusses a 50-Year Career

Journal-isms held its first-ever fundraiser outdoors on a 90-degree Saturday, June 21, in Alexandria, Va., attracting 30 or so people to hear the celebrated a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, to meet and greet and to support the cause — providing accountability reporting on diversity issues in the news business.

More than $7,000 had been raised as of June 24, and those who could not be there in person sent and continue to send donations. The event was organized by the Mildred and Jube Foundation Inc., a non-profit charitable organization.

Coming the weekend after Juneteenth, during the Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference, and the day before the solstice marking the beginning of summer, there was plenty of competition for attendees’ time. Yet for some, the fellowship alone was the day’s hallmark.

“You can tell the quality of someone by the quality of their friends. You have terrific friends,” one guest told the Journal-isms author.

Fred Sweets, veteran photographer and contributing editor at the St. Louis American, drove across the country from St. Louis to be there. “There was a good crowd, a great setting and gracious hosts,” another wrote the Journal-isms author. “A well-deserved testament to your many years of diligent journalism in service to diversity within the craft.”

For the group’s 50th anniversary, journalist Junette Pinkney interviewed Sweet Honey in The Rock, the a cappella vocal ensemble formed in Washington, D.C., in 1973 who tell the stories of Black culture through women’s voices. Four members — Aisha Khalil, Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson and Nitanju Bolade Casel — explained how the group managed to stay together all that time, with 28 people having been in part of the ensemble over the years.

Sam Fulwood III, veteran journalist and educator, and his colleague Amy Saidman introduced attendees to Story District, an organization planning “Behind the Headlines: DC Black Journalists Share Their Stories,” a project that plans to “spotlight the personal and professional journeys of six Black journalists in Washington, D.C., culminating in a live storytelling performance in April 2026.

“Through a structured development process — including community engagement, mentorship, rehearsals, and media documentation—this initiative will preserve and amplify the voices of Black journalists whose stories reflect the challenges, triumphs, and nuances of reporting in the nation’s capital,” the group says. The project is being funded by Humanities DC.

The Rahmat Shabazz Quartet provided both danceable and mellow jazz, and, along with the caterer, won kudos.

The location provided a historical setting of its own. In a 2023 ceremony hosted by Jube Shiver Jr., Fairfax County, Va., officials helped celebrate the county’s designation of Randall Estates — where the Shiver-hosted fundraiser was held — as a “historic district” (scroll down). And next month, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources is holding a meeting with community residents as the penultimate step of Randall Estates joining the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places.

Randall Estates’ developers navigated Jim Crow to make it one of the few Black subdivisions of its scope put together by African Americans for African Americans in the segregated South.

Among those receiving shout-outs from the fundraiser stage were legendary journalist Dorothy Gilliam, first Black female reporter at the Washington Post; Celia Wexler, president of the D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists; Julia Wilson, dean of the Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University; Jai-Leen James, vice president of the Washington Association of Black Journalists; Fergus Shiel, managing editor of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists; Lynne Adrine, Journal-isms Inc. board member; and Betty Anne Williams, member of the Journal-isms organizing committee. Ingrid Sturgis, who chairs the Department of Media, Journalism and Film at Howard University, represented that institution.

Shiel, a native of Ireland, presented Journal-isms author Richard Prince with a copy of the Irish book “Black & Irish: Legends, Trailblazers & Everyday Heroes,” by Leon Diop and Briana Fitzsimons.

In that day’s Washington Post, longtime editorial columnist Colbert I. King (pictured) a former deputy editorial page editor, surprised many readers with this announcement: “I have now decided that come September, when I reach my 35-year milestone as a Post journalist, I shall strike my tent and silently move on into the night.“

Told about the fundraiser, King cited his hospitalization for an unexpected illness and said, “raise one for me.” We did.

Jai-Leen James, left, with Dorothy Gilliam, Fred Sweets and Richard Prince

The food choices received compliments.

Jai-Leen James, left, with Dorothy Gilliam, Fred Sweets and Richard Prince

The music of the Rahmat Shabazz Quartet was both mellow and danceable.

Richard Prince, left, and Jube Shiver Jr.

Richard Prince and Jackie West of the Mildred and Jube Foundation Inc.

Julia Wilson, dean, Hampton University Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications

Jube Shiver Jr.

Richard Prince, left, and Jube Shiver Jr.

Dorothy Gilliam, a former reporter, editor, columnist, author and educator, who made history as the first African American female journalist hired by The Washington Post.

Celia Wexler, president, Society of Professional Journalists, Washington Chapter

Sam Fulwood

Sam Fulwood describes the Story District project for the attendees.

Scott Hollingsworth, left, and Cynthia Bell, in foreground

Amy Saidman of “Story District.”

Sam Fulwood and Amy Saidman

Scott Hollingsworth of “Story District” and Cynthia Bell

Dorothy Gilliam and Lynne Adrine, Journal-isms Inc. board member

Part One: https://www.journal-isms.com/a-sweet-fundraiser-for-journal-isms

Part Two: https://www.journal-isms.com/a-sweet-fundraiser-for-journal-isms-cont/

Video and photos by Shevry Lassiter

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Richard Prince’s Journal-isms originates from Washington. It began in print before most of us knew what the internet was, and it would like to be referred to as a “column.” Any views expressed in the column are those of the person or organization quoted and not those of any other entity. Send tips, comments and concerns to Richard Prince at journal-isms+owner@groups.io

About Richard Prince

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