The Houston Forward Times was founded in January 1960, under the leadership of the late founder and publisher, Julius P. Carter. Mr. Carter founded The Houston Forward Times as a means of uniting Black Houston to overcome the obstacles that were holding Blacks in the shackles of second class citizenry. He realized that Blacks could only overcome in unity, and needed a mechanism to communicate their needs to one another.
Mr. Carter passed away suddenly in 1971 after catapulting Forward Times into the third major newspaper in Houston ― a weekly, only behind the two dailies.
Lenora “Doll” Carter was the wife and successor of Julius P. Carter. Mr. Carter groomed Mrs. Carter as she served as General Manager and Advertising Director of The Forward Times. In 1971, at the tender age of twenty-nine, she became the CEO, managing editor and publisher of The Forward Times. Her doubters predicted that she would be out of business within six months. To their surprise, the business celebrated fifty years in business under her command.
On April 10, 2010, in its fiftieth year of business, The Forward Times suffered a devastating blow when Mrs. Carter passed away unexpectedly.
Just as Forward Times founder, Julius P. Carter trained his wife, Lenora “Doll” Carter to take the baton of leadership to keep moving forward, that legacy has now been passed on to their daughter, Karen Carter Richards, who worked alongside and shadowed her mother for over three decades.
Today, Karen Carter Richards serves as CEO and Publisher of The Forward Times, the South’s largest Black owned and independently published newspaper. Karen has creatively expanded the mission of the Forward Times and has continued her family’s publishing legacy to ensure that it remains the strongest information vehicle and most trusted voice for African Americans in the city of Houston and throughout the southern region.
The Forward Times has been the recipient of various local and national awards for journalistic and digital excellence, including best graphic designs, layout, and editorial excellence.
In addition to being an award-winning and historic publication, The Forward Times boasts a paid circulation of roughly 65,000 and is one of the few publications that holds a second-class mailing permit to mail the newspapers directly into the homes of subscribers.
The Forward Times holds memberships in the National Newspaper Publishers Association, Texas Press Service, Texas Publishers Association, Texas Business Alliance and Better Business Bureau.