DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Dwana Bradley never dreamed of publishing her own magazine. This year, the Des Moines Urban Experience turns 10.
“It’s just crazy,” she said. “Looking back on those stories that we’ve covered, people in our own community, being on the front cover. It was made out of just wanting to have representation, and we’ve held true to that for the last 10 years.”
The magazine doesn’t focus on mainstream stories that are covered by other news outlets. Bradley says the focus has always been to amplify voices within the Black community.
“Every year, I ask myself, ‘Do I want to keep doing this?’ This is more important now than ever because we are living in a time where we feel our voice is being taken away,” Bradley said.
The Des Moines native describes the magazine as an educational tool. She has never charged readers to access either the digital or hard copy of it.
“I’ve been in various stages of my life and sometimes a magazine subscription as a single mom was the last thing I was thinking about,” Bradley said. “Do I want to charge people for something that could change their lives?”
Longtime Des Moines journalist Dana James founded Black Iowa News in 2020 and launched her newspaper in 2023. James said the journey to owning her own newspaper came after working for the state’s largest print publication, feeling like perspectives were missing.
“I’ve talked about this a lot, reporters having to be told to include a person of color in their stories because it didn’t come naturally,” James said. “Even the angles of the story sometimes didn’t fit in with what I saw on the ground. Black Iowa News is a great way to marry all of that, to really think about the nuance of a story, to think about the good a story can do and the harm it can also do.”
James now controls the narrative and delivers her newspaper by hand around the state. Currently, the newspaper is printed and distributed quarterly. This summer, Black Iowa News hopes to issue the paper on a monthly basis.
“In this digital age, people still want print,” James said. “It’s going to be important that we have a newspaper for people to rally around, for them to read it and think, how does this affect my life?”
The newspaper hosts weekly statewide calls with Iowans to learn about what’s making news in their community. The paper says it’s important to amplify and include voices from across the state.
“We’re telling the stories of the people. We’re right there with the people, and we’re entrusted with their stories, which are also our stories. We’re part of the community. We’re part of wanting to see, you know, our cities and our states and our schools, you know, be better,” James said.
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