Today, The Richmond Free Press is 33 years old.

In honor of this historic day, we reprint an editorial from January 1993 by our late founder, Raymond H. Boone. In it, he talks about the newspaper’s first year of existence, which defied the expectations of some and exposed the bias of many. Much of what he wrote is still relevant today, but we suspect that some of our readers may not be aware of a few of the specific issues he raises. We believe this speaks to how thorough the newspaper was in dismantling them.

Yes, we’re getting older. But with age comes wisdom, and the lessons we’ve learned over the years continue to guide our mission. We remain steadfast in our commitment to the values we were founded on — a commitment to truth, justice and providing a voice for those who have been silenced.

The fight is far from over, and we stand ready to confront new challenges with the same courage and dedication that defined our early years.

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Time really does fly. Believe it or not, this edition of the Richmond Free Press marks our first anniversary — and we are just as lively, excited and committed to our mission as we were on January 16, 1992, when the Free Press first hit the streets.

We confess. We are proud. We are proud of all the editions that we published. We are proud because we did what we knew we could do against what we were told were unbeatable odds.

Financial experts told us it was the wrong time— correctly reminding us that newspapers were hardly doing well anywhere. Further, there was the sour economy and the heavy baggage, that we were told, went along with being a Black business in Richmond. Then the most disturbing, slanderous observation came from a City Hall official. “What a ridiculous idea,” he said, greeting the Free Press publishing plans. “Richmonders don’t read.”

We never believed any of this — particularly the offensive statement about Richmonders, who have proven the Richmonders-don’t-read statement a big, fat you know what. The Free Press has proven during the last year that Richmonders — particularly African-Americans — not only read, but also act on news and information that appear in the Free Press.

Don’t believe it? Ask City Hall. Ask the Virginia National Guard. Ask those who are responsible in the fly ash controversy. Ask other media organizations. Ask politicians who were once allowed to gallop about without an inkling of regard for public accountability.

We never paid any attention to the advice offered about the negative newspaper trends, the black business baggage bit—or even the sour economy. We always felt that waiting for the perfect time made no sense to us. If we did, we never would get anything done.

But we did get it done. And equally remarkable is the fact that we did it on our own. Our community-spirited investors dug into their pockets and provided a shining example of black self-reliance to establish a newspaper that was desperately needed to help tell the complete Richmond story, thus contributing to the truth and the public good.

We are also ecstatic about the public reaction that greets the Free Press weekly. We listen. The most frequently heard reaction from African-American readers is: “You make me feel proud. I love the Free Press.” From our white readers: “The Free Press is different from what I expected. It doesn’t shut out anybody.”

We beat the odds. But it hasn’t been easy, although we are respected — and loved; and although we receive high marks for quality. The biggest challenge has stemmed from our running into, quite unexpectedly, advertisers with large African-American clienteles who still refuse to believe that our readers should be valued and, therefore, accorded respect through advertising in the Free Press. This kind of unfair treatment in advertising has consistently forced us to restrict our coverage — but we will overcome this too.

We now look to Year No. 2. We are ready. We have built a strong foundation during our first year. We are armed with our mission of empowering the people through information, news and opinion that is provided with accuracy and a high sense of fairness. In other words, we will continue our policy of even-handed treatment for everybody — with a strong commitment to quality and community service.

We continue to believe in the people — that they will make the right decision and stand on the side of truth and justice once they have the facts.