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Courage. Solidarity. Excellence.
These are the tools that drove a group of journalists to carry on the work of Chauncey Bailey, a lifelong journalist brutally murdered on the streets of Oakland in August 2007.
At the time of his death, Bailey, editor of the Oakland Post, was investigating members of Your Black Muslim Bakery, a 40-year-old Oaklandbased business.
Together, the editors, reporters, students and other professionals of the industry, who vowed to complete their slain colleagues work, call themselves the Chauncey Bailey Project.
That collective is the winner of NABJs 2008 Best Practices award.
The group's mission is to continue Bailey's undaunted work of uncovering the shady financials, alleged crime, and power-goneawry of the leaders and members of Your Black Muslim Bakery.
"We are sending the message that you cannot stop the message by killing the messenger," said Bob Butler, a freelance journalist and founding member of the Project.
Conceived during the aftermath of the 1968 riots, Your Black Muslim Bakery became an icon of black pride rhetoric and economic self-sufficiency. Garnering the support of local businesses and politicians for its efforts, the bakery over the years...