The Carolina Times faces an uncertain future after its publisher Kenneth Edmonds died Saturday, May 2. His tenure at the historic black newspaper started when he was just 4 or 5 years old.
Helping out his grandfather, founder Louis E. Austin, “Kenny” Edmonds sold papers on the corner and eventually graduated up to writing obituaries. He was also known for his basketball skills, which he honed at Hargraves Community Center in Chapel Hill and later the Laurinburg Institute and East Carolina University. But he eventually left behind sports to take up the family business. During his time as publisher, Edmonds covered stories for and about African American communities in Durham and across the state, many of which other newspapers ignored.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Andre Vann, North Carolina Central University’s archivist and a close friend of Edmonds, about his life and the future of the state’s black press.