Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper, President & CEO, AFRO News
By Chrissy M. Thornton, CEO, Associated Black Charities
If you want to understand Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper’s publishing philosophy, you have to begin where she begins, with a word she returns to like a compass: stewardship.
Leadership is the visible role. Stewardship is the invisible work. And when you are responsible for a historic Black-owned publication, that invisible work is not optional. It is institutional responsibility, community expectation, cultural accountability, and business sustainability, all happening at once. That is the reality Draper inhabits as publisher of the AFRO, the Baltimore-based, family-founded institution established in 1892 by her great-grandfather, John H. Murphy Sr.
But stewardship did not begin when she took the title. It began long before she ever had a choice in the matter.
Draper’s story begins in an ecosystem where purpose was not a slogan, it was the air.
Her grandfather, Carl J. Murphy, who served as both editor and CEO, led the paper from 1922 to 1967. Her grandmother, Vashti Turley Murphy, was among the founding members of Delta Sigma Theta. Her aunt, Elizabeth Murphy Moss, was the first Black woman certified as an overseas war correspondent during World War II, and Elizabeth’s son Benjamin Murphy Phillips IV, serves as president of the AFRO. Draper’s paternal grandfather, Francis Marion Wood, a native of Kentucky, became Baltimore’s first Director of Colored Schools, overseeing the city’s segregated Black public school system during the era of legally mandated segregation.”
These were not distant figures. They were daily examples of what it meant to lead with responsibility.
Draper grew up surrounded by strong leadership, clear purpose, and adults who understood that their roles were never just about them. They were about what they carried for the community.
At home, that expectation was direct. Her mother, Frances L. Murphy II, a no-nonsense leader, served as publisher and chairman of the AFRO board in the 1970s. Draper recalls being invited into the work early, asked for her perspective, and expected to think critically. That early trust communicated both expectation and belief: you are capable, and you are responsible.
Over time, Draper came to reject the idea that legacy is something you perform. “I understood legacy not as weight, but as stewardship,” she says. Something to be carried faithfully, not worn for applause. That understanding shapes her leadership today. She is grounded, intentional, and resistant to spectacle. The work is not about being seen. It is about being responsible.
And yet, for all that history, Draper did not initially set out to lead the family business. In the fourth generation, she describes what felt like an unwritten pact to pursue other paths. When you grow up in a home where the phone is answered with “AFRO,” where urgency is constant, the work can feel less like a calling and more like a weight.
Her younger self was drawn to language and storytelling. She wrote fiction as a child, and years later, a sixth-grade teacher mailed one of her stories back to her with a handwritten note encouraging her to use her gifts. That early affirmation stayed with her.
She developed her voice through speaking competitions, academic training, and professional roles that blended communication and business. She earned a B.A. in Spanish education from Morgan State University and an M.Ed. from Johns Hopkins University. She worked in finance, development, and higher education, experiences that would later inform her leadership.
What may have looked like a departure was, in truth, preparation.
In 1986, she rejoined the AFRO and went on to serve as president of the company from the late 1980s through 1999, a period that reinforced her connection to the institution. “What I came to understand is that a calling is not always what you plan,” she says. The independence she once sought ultimately prepared her to lead with clarity and purpose.
When Draper talks about protecting and elevating Black storytelling, she is direct about what it requires: conviction, independence, and courage. She draws a clear distinction between Black publications and Black-owned publications. In a Black-owned context, accountability is inherent. This understanding is lived, not taught.
That difference is evident in how stories are told. Early in her career as a crime reporter, she learned to go beyond the incident, to sit with families, to understand who a person was, and to tell the story with humanity intact. Because the story is not just what happened. It is who it happened to.
This philosophy also shapes what the AFRO chooses not to do. It does not engage in unnecessary harm or sensationalism. If someone has already been publicly diminished, the publication does not add to it. That is not avoidance. It is editorial discipline rooted in purpose.
In an industry that often frames sustainability as a compromise, Draper rejects that premise. Integrity is not negotiable. Sustainability must be built around it. The AFRO will not accept partnerships that violate its values, because trust is the foundation of its relevance.
Stewardship is also personal. It is about responsibility for people as much as for the institution. Draper speaks candidly about leading teams with awareness of the lived experiences people carry, while still holding the standard of excellence. Caring for people and maintaining performance are not competing priorities. They are both required.
Her family lineage at the AFRO continues to extend across generations. Fourth and fifth generation family members have been actively engaged in sustaining and evolving the institution. Fifth generation leaders include Draper’s son Kevin Peck, vice president of marketing and technology; Dana Peck, director of digital solutions; and Savannah Wood, executive director of Afro Charities, a separate 501(c)(3) that stewards the AFRO’s extensive archives and supports the broader mission. Several additional fourth and fifth generation family members serve on the board of directors. Succession is not theoretical here. It is active, intentional, and ongoing.
She also depends upon a support system that makes her leadership sustainable. Lenora Howze, advertising and executive director, has been by her side for 12 years. Her husband, Andre Draper, serves as the AFRO’s director of operations and is an essential partner in both life and work. “Hands down, I could not do what I do without him.” Their partnership reflects shared leadership, one that helps carry the weight of responsibility.
She notes that the demands of leadership are real. Time, energy, and boundaries must be managed intentionally. Stewardship requires discipline not only in what you give, but in what you preserve.
Draper is equally clear about how she defines the AFRO. It is not simply a newspaper. “We look at ourselves as a tech company where media is our product and service, but our community is our audience.” That framing allows the institution to evolve without losing its core. The AFRO has long embraced digital platforms, experimenting, learning, and adapting as needed.
Draper also acknowledges the leadership of John “Jake” Oliver, who served as publisher from 1986 to 2018, whose innovative leadership and early adoption of technology helped position the AFRO to navigate an evolving media landscape. That willingness to adapt while maintaining integrity remains essential to the institution’s sustainability.
She is also candid about the broader challenges facing publishing: public distrust, misinformation, and the erosion of local journalism. In her view, democracy depends on local news, and the Black press plays a distinct role in telling stories that might otherwise be ignored or misrepresented.
Her leadership is also shaped by her pastoral calling. After leaving the paper in 1999, Draper became a pastor and later earned a Doctor of Ministry degree. That formation informs her values, her ethics, and her sense of responsibility.
Her life reflects a commitment to both professional and community leadership. She values the community boards on which she has the privilege to serve, including Associated Black Charities, recognizing the importance of collective leadership and shared accountability.
Her creative work extends beyond publishing. She has co-authored one book and authored two others, with another forthcoming. Her newest book, “50 Tips from 50 Years of Marriage” (working title), will be published next fall by Our Daily Bread Ministries.
In her personal time, she enjoys travel, theater, and technology, with a particular interest in artificial intelligence. That curiosity reflects a broader mindset, one that embraces innovation.
When Draper speaks about legacy, it does not sound like status. It sounds like care. Care for people, for community, and for truth.
She is clear that support for institutions like the AFRO must move beyond awareness into action. It can begin with small steps, subscribing, engaging, sharing, but it must grow into sustained commitment. For those with influence, that includes directing resources, advertising, and partnerships toward Black-owned institutions as a strategic investment in preserving trusted voices.
Her message is both a warning and an invitation. Black newspapers are under pressure, and their survival requires intentional support. These institutions endure because communities choose to invest in them.
And even within that reality, Dr. Frances “Toni” Murphy Draper stands as both guardian and force, embodying what it means to lead with conviction, clarity, and purpose. As a woman in publishing, her leadership is not only significant, it is transformative. She has not simply inherited an institution. She has sustained it, strengthened it, and positioned it for the future.
In Draper’s hands, the AFRO is not just a publication, it is her living assignment. It carries a strong legacy and a deep reverence for the people and stories it represents. It is a testament to the enduring power of Black ownership, Black storytelling, and leadership rooted in stewardship. I95
Editor’s Note: For a chronicle of the Afro-American Newspaper, visit BaltimoreMagazine.com.