The panel included Sandra Long, a deputy managing editor at The Inquirer; J. Whyatt Mondesire, president of the local branch of the NAACP and president of the Philadelphia Sunday Sun; Reggie Bryant, radio talk-show host at WHAT-AM (1340); Joe Davidson, former Philadelphia Bulletin reporter, and Sam Pressley, director of public relations at Lincoln University.

NABJ president Herb Lowe said the 3,100-member national group is "fighting the struggle" started by PABJ. "We are carrying forth, understanding that it's not about the programs we put on, but it's about survival … and influence." A former Inquirer reporter now with Newsday, Lowe noted that of the 15 national presidents, he's the fifth with ties to the Philadelphia chapter.

Before presenting PABJ President Denise Clay with a proclamation from NABJ, Lowe asked members to remain involved with their local chapters. "There are chapters right now that are imploding from inside," he said, because members have stopped giving their time to them. "Don't leave the chapter. Stay there."

Even after 30 years, there's much work to be done, panelists said. The fact that the celebration was held at the Inquirer/Daily News building wasn't lost on Mondesire.
He recalled that when Moore was promoted to reporter at The Inquirer, white editors at the paper, then owned by billionaire media mogul Walter H. Annenberg, started a betting pool to see how long Moore would last.

Annenberg "did not want black people here," Mondesire said. He said that PABJ must become more of an advocacy group.

Bryant was critical of the mainstream newspapers, especially the Daily News that "should be published on Scott (toilet) paper."

"This is a war. You are battle warriors," Bryant said, addressing the Temple University students and young journalists from the North Philly Metropolis community paper who were in the audience. PABJ should be putting "a little starch in the collars and backbone" of these youngsters, he said.

Bennett urged the aspiring and current journalists to take a stand when they come across it.

"It happened then. It happens now. It's going to happen in the future," Bennett said. "Your job is to be there. Your job is to show up. Your job is to speak out. Your job is to confront it when and where it happens."

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