6 October 2025
By Brynnan Smith
Contributing Writer
The year of 1925 was a pivotal for Black institutions and Black people in New Orleans. It was on September 19 of that year that The Louisiana Weekly began publishing news that matters to the state and regions Black community. September 19, 2025, marked the newspaper’s 100th anniversary.
On Oct. 1, 2025, Xavier University of Louisiana celebrated the 25th anniversary of the canonization of its founder St. Katherine Drexel at the St. Louis Cathedral with Archbishop Gregory Aymond, as part of the historical Black university’s 100th year. Both institutions came together on Sept. 29 at Xavier’s ballroom to celebrate each other’s centennial and to honor The Louisiana Weekly and its legacy as part of the Black Press.
“It’s extremely important for us to have this newspaper and this venue for Black journalism within our community,” said Austin Badon, the assistant to the commissioner of the Office of Motor Vehicles as well as an aide to the governor, who presented a proclamation on behalf of Gov. Jeff Landry. “To be a voice for the voiceless and to continue on with freedom of speech, and touching the lives of so many people,” Badon said of The Louisiana Weekly’s impact across the state.
Xavier paid tribute to The Louisiana Weekly as being a partner in uplifting the African-American community, contributing to advancements in civil rights and its continuity in publishing over many decades, continuing to do the work that is needed in the Black community.
“Yes we are both 100 years old, but what those 100 years have meant. Of building and of service and of remembering, and of telling the stories that definitely need to be told,” said Dr. Reynold C. Verret, the president of Xavier University. Verret opened the centennial celebration event with this quote, examining the important parallels the university holds with the newspaper as they both share the same centennial year.
Representatives from Louisiana State University’s Manship School of Communication, Loyola University of New Orleans’ School of Communication and Design and Dillard University’s Department of Mass Communication, joined the executive board of the New Orleans Association of Black Journalists to recognize the work of The Louisiana Weekly in creating a space for so many Black journalists and for being the keeper of African-American journalism in the city and region.
In a conversation with LSU professor Dr. Jinx Broussard, a scholar of the Black Press, The Louisiana Weekly’s publisher and president, Renette Dejoie-Hall, revisited some of the important moments of the paper’s 100 years of journalism.
Over its 100 years, The Louisiana Weekly has covered stories often neglected by the mainstream media. From their coverage of the wrongful conviction of nine Black youth in the Scottsboro case of 1931 or showing the polls in New Orleans weeks after the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1965. This advocacy continued when Katrina hit New Orleans and the paper was able to report the government’s neglect, as well as how thousands of Black residents were left stranded during relief efforts 20 years ago. Now, the paper remains an important voice as mainstream journalism continues to see its First Amendment rights infringed by the second Trump administration.
“Well, I know that during WWII, along with the Chicago Defender and, [I] believe it was The Pittsburgh Courier, was banned by the department of the army from soldiers being able to read it, because they thought the news being brought was too divisive and would incite their soldiers, so we were banned,” said Dejoie-Hall, when recounting how The Louisiana Weekly and Black Press covered stories that government officials did not want to be told during the 1940s.
Under the leadership of Dejoie-Hall and the dedicated staff, The Louisiana Weekly looks to preserve its legacy during its 100th year centennial. The Louisiana Weekly Centennial Committee and Xavier’s Department of Mass Communication will spotlight more of the newspaper’s impact on the region and nation over the next year and will work to preserve 100 years of journalism through an effort to digitize the historical archives. That initiative is housed on a new website where members of the community can learn more at laweeklycentennial.com.
“In The Louisiana Weekly is not only our history, but also the reasons we are here and why we are doing what we do,” said Dr. Verret.
This article originally published in the October 6, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.