As publisher of the Arkansas State Press newspaper alongside her husband, L.C. Bates, Daisy Bates helped push the boundaries of advocacy journalism, honing in on controversial issues around race relations and injustices in America and bringing news about education and criminal justice to the forefront. Daisy Bates believed that the cause of Blackness was worth championing and defending.

As a result, she spoke, wrote and published the indefatigable truth to lift up her people and challenge systems of inequality. As a torch bearer of her legacy, Noire Magazine is honored to be a mouthpiece and lens for Black Arkansans – amplifying our stories and magnifying our presence – emboldened by the inextinguishable flame lit by her example. 

Unafraid and unbossed, noted civil rights activist, journalist and publishing icon Daisy L. Gatson Bates (1914-1999) paved the way for platforms today that speak to, for and about Black Arkansans.