Historic Lyric Theatre · Community history
The Black
Press.
Lexington’s community in print
A newspaper is more than a record of events. It is a place where a community speaks, remembers, and sees itself.
Explore original pages ↓
Original scan: Library of Congress / Kentucky Digital Newspaper Program
Everyday lives belong in the historical record.
Eight publications. Different eras. A shared local story.
Read surviving pages and follow the archival trail.
An exhibit within the exhibit
Lexington · Central Kentucky
The person behind the platform
Patrice K.
Muhammad
Print. Conversation. Cultural connection.
Making room for community voices.
Through The Key Newsjournal, Key Conversations, and literary gatherings, Patrice Muhammad’s work connects local journalism with spaces where Black community life can be heard, read, and discussed.
She and LaMaughn Muhammad founded The Key through LexTown Publications. UK profiles identify her as the newspaper’s founder and editor and describe its service to Central Kentucky’s Black community since 2004.
From the community archive · 2014–2015
A paper on the sidewalk.
A place in literary life.
Two photographs shared by The Key Newsjournal bring this story into everyday view. Select either image for a closer look.
01 · Outside the Lyric
Community news, freely shared.
The red newspaper box placed The Key Newsjournal within reach of the Lyric’s neighbors. This photograph shows the November 2014 issue beneath a snow-covered lid. The original post identifies the location as “in front of The Lyric Theatre.”
Image: The Key Newsjournal / @keynews · Posted November 17, 2014.
View the original post ↗02 · January 28, 2015
Celebrating a Black literary voice.
A Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame invitation and ticket appear with an envelope bearing Patrice Muhammad’s name. The Key’s accompanying post highlights the induction of Black poet Effie Waller Smith: a glimpse of the literary life the newspaper helped bring to its readers.
Image: The Key Newsjournal / @keynews · Posted January 28, 2015.
View the original post ↗Four paths into the story
A platform takes many forms.
Open each chapter to explore the work and its documented connections.
01The printed voice
The Key Newsjournal belongs to Lexington’s tradition of Black community newspapers. Its founders created a local publishing platform through LexTown Publications, bringing the press’s story into the twenty-first century.
NKAA records its founding in 2003. UK profiles describe community service since 2004. The two descriptions are preserved here without assuming an exact first-issue date.
View the newspaper’s catalog record ↗02The spoken conversation
UK identifies Muhammad as host of the syndicated talk-radio program Key Conversations. The program extended her media work beyond the printed page into spoken conversation.
The sources used here document the program historically. A current broadcast schedule and a verified public recording archive have not been established for this exhibit.
Read UK’s profile of her media work ↗03A gathering around literature
As chair of the Sonia Sanchez Series, Muhammad helped bring Black literary and cultural conversations into public spaces. UK’s 2017 announcement documents her work with Asha French and Shawntaye Hopkins on a screening of Ava DuVernay’s 13th and a lecture by scholar Melynda J. Price.
In 2020, UK announced that Muhammad would host an online viewing party for BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez, keeping an audience connected during the pandemic.
Explore the 2020 conference record ↗04Opening the door to others
For the Our Voices collaboration, Key Newsjournal and Key Conversations joined CivicLex and the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Lenfest Institute identifies Muhammad as a mentor and thought partner.
The project supported community writers of color in developing opinion essays about racial justice. It ran from November 2020 to August 2021, connecting lived experience with the public conversation.
Read the documented partnership story ↗Here at the Lyric
September 10
6–8 p.m.
A documented meeting of voices
Patrice Muhammad.
Sonia Sanchez.
The Lyric stage.
The Kentucky Women Writers Conference’s 2015 itinerary lists a free screening of BaddDDD Sonia Sanchez at the Lyric Theatre, followed by a conversation with Sonia Sanchez and Patrice Muhammad.
This program connects the story of The Key directly to this theatre: journalism, poetry, film, and community conversation sharing the same room.
View the original 2015 program (PDF) ↗2017 · Public dialogue
Film, scholarship, and conversation
The Sonia Sanchez Series paired a screening of 13th with a keynote by Melynda J. Price, creating public opportunities to discuss race and mass incarceration.
Read the event announcement ↗2020–2021 · Our Voices
Supporting the next storyteller
Across the wider partnership, 22 local writers produced 26 opinion essays. Muhammad’s documented contribution was mentorship and collaboration within the project.
Explore how the collaboration worked ↗Exhibit sources & archive notes
This exhibit draws on NKAA’s newspaper record, UK’s event announcements and 2015 conference itinerary, and the Lenfest Institute’s account of Our Voices. Dated announcements establish the roles and events described for their respective years; they do not establish current schedules or appointments.
No verified full-issue scan of The Key or public Key Conversations recording was located for this exhibit. The masthead above is an original editorial title treatment. Portrait of Patrice K. Muhammad supplied for this exhibit; background removed for presentation.
Follow the paper trail
A local press.
A lasting voice.
Select a title to explore its history and the surviving evidence. This is a selection of documented Lexington publications, not a complete inventory.
Where the record survives
The archive · Read it for yourself
Open a window
into the past.
Two authentic front pages, preserved by the Library of Congress. Open a sample to enlarge it; follow the full-issue link to browse the remaining pages.
Original archival sample · 01 / 01
The Lexington Standard
January 27, 1900
Examine the masthead, columns, advertisements, and community notices in a surviving issue.
Full issue at the Library of Congress ↗Original archival sample · 01 / 02
Lexington Weekly News
March 15, 1912
Examine the masthead, columns, advertisements, and community notices in a surviving issue.
Full issue at the Library of Congress ↗Scans are presented as historical documents. Their language, advertisements, and opinions reflect their original period. Publication dates and the dates of surviving digitized issues are different measures.
Reading the evidence
What survives.
What remains open.
Digitized pages make history accessible, but an online gap does not mean a newspaper never existed. Some titles survive on microfilm; others are known through references and catalog records.
No verified full-issue scan of The Key Newsjournal was located for this exhibit. Its feature above uses an original title design rather than an invented archival page.
Sources & dates
UK’s Notable Kentucky African Americans Database: newspaper list
Library of Congress: Standard / Weekly News history
Library of Congress: digitized Black newspapers by state
The Library of Congress dates the first Weekly News issue to March 15, 1912. That dated issue is used here where broader lists differ. Unresolved ending dates are not treated as established.
Looking for microfilm?
NKAA lists holdings and call numbers for Community Voice and Bluegrass Chronicle at the University of Kentucky’s William T. Young Library. Contact the library to confirm current access before visiting.
Another research doorway
The Lexington Public Library’s Black Community News collection brings together coverage of Black community life in other local newspapers. Coverage about a community is distinct from a newspaper owned or edited by that community.
Keep the conversation going
Do you remember
these pages?
A saved issue, a family memory, or a familiar name can open another path into Lexington’s history. Share your interest with the Lyric team.
Connect with the Lyric