Our Founder: Sandra “Sandy” Williams
The Black Lens was founded by Sandra “Sandy” Williams in 2015 in Spokane, Washington. A visionary leader and unwavering advocate for equity, visibility, and justice, Sandy devoted her life to challenging systemic racism and creating pathways toward true opportunity for Black communities in Spokane and beyond. As an activist, filmmaker, publisher, and civic trailblazer, she used every platform available to elevate marginalized voices and confront the root causes of discrimination.
Her legacy extends far beyond this newspaper—through the Carl Maxey Center, the organizations she helped build, and the countless people she empowered with her courage, compassion, and clarity of purpose. Though Sandy’s passing in 2022 was a profound loss, the impact of her work continues to guide, inspire, and strengthen our community.
After going on hiatus for two years, The Black Lens relaunched in February 2024. Today, it operates as a nonprofit news organization funded through foundations, major donors, partners, and the community it serves. The relaunch was made possible through infrastructural and resource support from the “comma” community journalism lab.
The Black Lens focuses on Black culture and lifestyle, social and racial justice, and issues and events of significance to our region’s Black community. The stories, photos, graphics, and columns produced by The Black Lens are created for—and owned by—the community we serve, and may be republished for free under a Creative Commons license.
The newspaper publishes daily online and monthly in print. For more information, please contact us. To support our work, please visit our donation link.
Mission
Our mission is to serve as a voice and agent of change for the Black community, using stories, information, and shared experiences to expand awareness and build bridges that allow everyone to thrive.
Vision
Our vision is to cultivate a society where the richness of the Black experience is acknowledged, celebrated, and leveraged to create an equitable and flourishing community for all. We strive to be a beacon of unity, understanding, and transformative progress, fostering environments where every individual can contribute to a vibrant, diverse future.
Statement of Independence
The Black Lens is a not-for-profit, independent newspaper dedicated to all aspects of the Black community in Eastern Washington. The editor reports to its own board of directors, established in partnership with Sandy Williams’ family.
As a publication committed to transparency, The Black Lens is clear about how its journalism is funded. Support from foundations, donors, subscribers, and the community provides the resources for our editor, correspondents, and columnists to produce the newspaper, website, and other platforms.
The Black Lens retains full authority over its editorial content. We maintain a strict firewall between our journalism and all funding sources or in-kind support. Acceptance of financial contributions does not constitute endorsement of any donor, product, service, or opinion.
All editorial decisions are made independently and are not influenced by donors or partners. Supporters do not have the right to assign, review, or edit content. When a supporter appears in a story or editorial project, The Black Lens will disclose this relationship at the bottom of the piece.
The Black Lens’ newsroom will be located within the community journalism lab space on the main campus of Gonzaga University. While our physical location may be housed at Gonzaga, the university has no authority or control over the journalism created by The Black Lens or any other organization within the lab. The “comma” community journalism lab is a separate nonprofit with its own board of directors, distinct from both the university and The Black Lens. Our board works collaboratively with comma’s leadership to ensure that journalism’s First Amendment protections remain central to our mission and practice.
Though some Black Lens content appears in regional publications, newspapers, or news websites, those organizations hold no rights, authority, or influence over our work. We remain solely accountable to The Black Lens board of directors. While partners such as The Spokesman-Review may assist with distribution, The Black Lens is not a publication of any third-party entity.