Our History

This was a time of increased social activism and political reform. During this time, a group of Black Journalist came together to protect & restore the place of significant African American history and formed the Houston Association of Black Journalist.

Right before the world transitioned into a new millennium, the Internet happened. This would forever change the world, and forced many news media outlets to adapt to technology they’d never even had to think about before. For the Black Media, it became yet another avenue to utilize.

HABJ founded the Scholars Development Program to help develop the journalistic skills and job readiness of scholarship recipients while they complete their undergraduate degrees. Prior to graduation, these HABJ scholars are successfully placed in internships at local media outlets and corporate communications departments.

HABJ has partnered with Rice University to present free annual newsworthy community issues in a town hall format at the university. Our first, “Conversation with Mayor Bill White” town hall forum was held to discuss Hurricane Katrina evacuees and others pressing issues in Houston addressed the coverage of the black community in the media.

On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States; he is the first African American to hold that office

The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter appeared on Twitter and spread widely as high-profile cases involving the series of deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers continued to spark outrage and protests, including Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray.

In January 2021, Kamala Harris became the first woman and first woman of color to become vice president of the United States.

For more than 10 years, HABJ has sponsored the hugely popular “Making the Media Work for You” a day-long media seminar to educate small businesses and community-based, nonprofit organizations and college students on how to effectively access the media. Each year, the workshop is held on the campus at TSU and presented by panels of local Black media professionals.

The Houston Association of Black Journalists (HABJ) hosted its Annual Scholarship and Fundraiser Gala at the historic Eldorado Ballroom in Third Ward, achieving a remarkable fundraising milestone of over $50,000 for college students.