Forward Times

Houston, the new Forward Times is here. 🗞️ The World Cup flags are going up downtown, the runoff election is days away, and Juneteenth is right around the corner — this week’s edition meets Houston exactly where the city is right now. Inside this week’s paper: • Kevin Barnett (@coolxdad ) and the community he’s building around intentional fatherhood get the cover — DeVaughn Douglas (@drdougla ) spent time inside the East River storefront to tell the full story • Chelsea Lenora Small (@sincerelylenora ) breaks down everything Houston and Harris County voters need to know before early voting begins May 18 — the Al Green vs. Christian Menefee runoff, the Harris County Judge race, and why this is not the cycle to tune out • VP Wright (@thevpwright ) sits down with Damon Oubre of Greater Houston Luxe (@damonoubre ) on why gentrification isn’t just something to protest — it’s something to prepare for, and FIFA is accelerating the timeline • The Lindsays’ Corner makes its debut — faith, family, fashion, food, and a Spin of the Week from Chasitie (@chasitie.lindsay ) • Houston’s Juneteenth Kickoff at the historic Eldorado Ballroom centered Black joy — and 19 Days of Juneteenth is officially underway • The World Cup is coming, and in our Editor’s Letter, Chelsea Lenora Small asks the question Houston residents are really asking: are we actually included? • Hantavirus is trending on social media — here’s what we actually know, separated from the fear ….plus more inside! 🗞️ Black-owned journalism means our stories don’t just get covered — they get documented and archived with truth and integrity. Read these via the link in our bio or pick up a copy off newsstands across Houston. 🔗 🗣️ Forward Fam: Which story speaks to you most — and why? Let us know in the comment section👇🏾 ________________ #HoustonNews #BlackPress #Juneteenth #FIFAWorldCup #ForwardTimesHouston

A century of Black history. Sixty-six years of Forward Times bearing witness. This year’s Black History Month Special Edition is themed re[RIGHT]ing history — because in a moment when truth is being challenged, restricted, and reshaped in real time, preserving record is not optional. It is responsibility. In this video, our Editor-in-Chief, @sincerelylenora , reads her first Letter from the Editor and reflects on the legacy of our founder, Julius P. Carter — her grandfather — and the weight of protecting an institution built to publish the truth without fear or favor. From our founding in 1960, to surviving a bombing in 1971, to continuing the work today, Forward Times has remained committed to documenting our community with clarity and courage. Watch the full video on YouTube at the link in our bio. _________ #reRIGHTingHistory #ForwardTimes #BlackPress #66YearsStrong #BlackJournalist

66 years ago, Forward Times’ very first cover featured a baby boy, our future. Today, on our 66th anniversary, our cover features youth shining at Star Academy’s closing ceremony. From 1960 to now, one thing has never changed: our commitment to telling stories that uplift, inform, and remind us of what’s possible. In a world that feels heavy, this is your reminder: good news is still here and the future is bright.

Forward Fam, give our incredible CEO, Karen Carter Richards, a massive round of congratulations in the comment section! The National Association of Black Journalists (@nabjofficial ) has named Karen the 2026 recipient of the Legacy Award, which will be given at the NABJ National Convention and Career Fair in Atlanta in August. Karen, we love you and are so proud of you! 💐 __________ #blackexcellence #blackjournalist #blackentrepreneurs #blackwomeninbusiness #houstonentrepreneurs

In the first edition of The Lindsays’ Corner, Chef Courtney Lindsay’s “Father Chronicle” asks readers a question that has probably stumped all parents of pre-teens: “Should an 11-year old have a smart phone in 2026?” With new climates, information, and pressures today than parents had to face growing, it can lead to a tough discussion, including for @chefcourtneyhtx ! What are your thoughts, Forward Fam? Let us know in the comments below 👇🏽 You can read the full Lindsay’s Corner in this week’s print edition of the Forward Times, available at Mo’ Brunch & Brews, across the City of Houston, or by subscribing to our paper for direct delivery! 🗞️ _________ #houstonnews #houstonfamilies #blackparenthood #blackfatherhood #parentingtips

If your timeline has been full of “hantavirus,” “40% fatality rate,” and “cruise ship outbreak” over the last few days — you’re not alone, and the fear response is understandable. Those words hit differently after COVID-19. But before panic gets ahead of the facts, Forward Times Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Lenora Small (@sincerelylenora ) breaks down what we actually know, what public health officials are actually saying, and why a high fatality rate and high transmissibility are two very different things. Stay informed and read the full story via the link in our bio. 🔗 🗣️ Forward Fam — how do you make sure you’re getting accurate health information when a story like this takes over social media? _____________ #ForwardTimesHouston #Hantavirus #PublicHealth #HealthMisinformation #BlackHealthMatters

Consistency, collaboration over competition, never being selfish with the information. ✨ This week’s Lindsay’s Corner in this week’s Forward Times print edition is one worth sitting with — a conversation about the real work behind entrepreneurship, the decade-long grind that looks like overnight success to everyone else, and what it actually means to pour into your community while building something of your own. “It was never giving up. And never being selfish with the information.” Pick up this week’s edition of the Forward Times — available on newsstands throughout Houston and at Mo’ Brunch & Brews (@mobrunchandbrews ) — and read the full column inside. 🗣️ Forward Fam — who poured into you on your entrepreneurial journey, and how are you paying it forward? _____________ #ForwardTimesHouston #HoustonCouples #BlackEntrepreneurs #BlackLove #BuildingInPublic

This week in @forwardtimes 📰! CoolxDad on the front page + the official kick off of The Lindsays’ Corner weekly column! Grab your copy at @mobrunchandbrews today! #weeklynewspaper #houstoncommunity #thelindsayscorner #houstonculture #blackstories

Six years ago, Kevin Barnett (@mrkb__ ) started CoolxDad (@coolxdad ) out of a pandemic, a moment of national grief, and a simple question about what meaningful change could look like from the inside out. What began as a conversation between fathers has grown into a brick-and-mortar space in Houston’s East River development, a nonprofit that operates like a brand, and a community that feels — by design — like a cookout at your cousin’s house. . Read the full story by DeVaughn Douglas (@drdougla ), Forward Times Cultural Writer, and view the full photo gallery by William Isaac ( @william.isc ) on the front cover of this week’s edition of the Forward Times or via the link in our bio. Forward Fam — who in your life has shown up as a father figure, whether or not they had the official title? _________ #HoustonNews #CoolxDad #BlackFatherhood #HoustonCommunity #FatherFigures

Houston politics has been a lot, and another runoff is here before most of us had a chance to catch our breath. Before early voting begins May 18, the Forward Times is giving Houston voters the recap they actually need — breaking down the races, the stakes, and why this is not the cycle to tune out. Read the full editorial by Chelsea Lenora Small (@sincerelylenora ), Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, via the link in our bio. 🔗 🗣️ Forward Fam: early voting starts May 18, Election Day is May 26. Are you ready? _____________ #ForwardTimesHouston #HoustonPolitics #HoustonRunoff #VoteHouston #HarrisCountyVotes

Black Gen Z is not losing faith. They’re interrogating it — and in many cases, going looking for something more. Data from Pew Research shows a 12 percent decline in Black Americans identifying as Christian over the past two decades and a 10 percent rise in those who are religiously unaffiliated. Alongside that shift, scholars are documenting a resurgence of interest in ancestral and traditional African religions among young Black Americans, from Vodun to Ifá to the spiritual traditions encoded in Voodoo. In a piece for Forward Times, Howard University student Aniyah Genama (@niyah.leigh ) explores this generational reckoning through the voices of a Catholic chaplain at Howard, a professor of African American religious history, a New Orleans Voodoo priestess and students themselves — many of whom are asking, for the first time, whether the faith they grew up in was freely chosen or handed to them by history and circumstance. “What you’re wanting is the Black experience and the warmth of your ancestors, and that’s in your bloodline.” — Voodoo Queen Kalindah Laveaux Read the full piece by clicking the link in our bio 🔗 _______ #BlackNews #BlackFaith #GenZ #BlackSpirituality #Religion

There is a form of kidney disease that disproportionately affects Black communities and most people have never heard of it. APOL1-mediated kidney disease is linked to gene variants most commonly found in people with West or Central African ancestry. About 13 percent of Black Americans carry these variants, with roughly a one in five chance of developing the disease. It advances faster than most other forms of kidney disease and can develop at a young age. And yet, awareness remains critically low. Forward Times Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Chelsea Lenora Small breaks down what the APOL1 gene is, why it matters, and what the American Kidney Fund’s newly launched APOL1 Coalition is doing to bring this conversation into communities — through churches, schools, social spaces, and digital platforms — before families have to learn about it from a diagnosis. “Most people are unaware of the fact that APOL1-mediated kidney disease advances faster than many other kidney diseases and can develop at a young age.” — LaVarne A. Burton, American Kidney Fund Read the full story via the link in our bio 🔗 🗣️Forward Fam: Have you or someone in your family been affected by kidney disease? Share your story in the comments. __________ #APOL1 #KidneyDisease #BlackHealthMatters #HealthEquity #BlackNews