Thomas H. Watkins, 1937-2025, was the founder, CEO and publisher of the New York Daily Challenge, he first Black daily newspaper in New York City.
At its height of operation, Watkins’ flagship publication reached thousands of readers, brought in nearly $30M per year and employed dozens of African-Americans from its corporate headquarters in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. But even in year one, it deviated to a broad audience garnering advertising support from juggernauts including Pfizer, General Electric, and Ford. This year, the New York Daily Challenge celebrates its 56th Anniversary as an award-winning outlet that fearlessly breaks controversial news, candidly reports on high-ranking politicians and prominent figures, and provides a global outlook on the Black experience.
An advocate for the power of the Black voice and dollar, Watkins comes from a long line of African-Americans seeking to elevate the Black community. His grandfather argued before Congress for federal protections for Black Americans from lynching. His father helped more than triple the circulation of the Amsterdam News, New York’s oldest and the first completely unionized Black newspaper in the United States. Watkins is noted for saying, “The question isn’t why do we have one African-American newspaper. It’s why don’t we have more?”. Over the decades, Watkins became a Black print media mogul founding and acquiring titles including the Afro Times, New American, Jersey City Challenge, Patterson-Passaic Challenge and Newark Challenge. “When you talk to Thomas Watkins, Jr., you sense a force of will that cannot be diverted from its goal,” The Atlanta Daily World wrote in a profile of the entrepreneur. “For Watkins, the ultimate goal is the economic independence of Afro-Americans.”
From 1989-1992, Watkins served as president of the National Newspaper Publishing Association and continued to serve decades after. A successful entrepreneur, visionary and activist, Watkins offered keynote speeches for international non-profit organizations (such as The United Way) and esteemed institutions (including historically Black colleges like Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida, and The Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina). A member of the Omega Psi Fi fraternity, Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, Comus Club, and Reveille Club. He lived in Brooklyn, New York, when he continued to advocate for the financial empowerment of African-Americans.
He is survived by Kevin Thomas Watkins (brother), Kerri Watkins (daughter), Thomas H. Watkins III (son), eight grandchildren, six great-grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.
