{"id":757893,"date":"2026-04-28T01:49:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T01:49:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/757893\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T01:49:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T01:49:18","slug":"fort-worth-black-news-founder-jill-darden-dies-at-52","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/757893\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Worth Black News founder Jill Darden dies at 52"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"&quot;byline&quot;\">by David Moreno, Fort Worth Report <br \/>April 27, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Elected officials, business leaders and friends remember Fort Worth Black News founder Jill Darden as a community beacon who spotlighted diverse voices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Darden, 52, suddenly died April 24 \u2014 days before her birthday on May 2, her sister Ginger Darden-Ford confirmed to the Report. She declined to share more information on the cause of death.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister \u2026 she loved her community,\u201d Darden-Ford said. \u201cShe loved Fort Worth. She loved people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Darden founded Fort Worth Black News in 1997 with her mother Chris Lott\u2019s help to write about community leaders and activities without any particular agendas, she previously said. She was 23 at the time and had recently graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Texas at Arlington.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"IzVzxQo7VO\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2022\/05\/10\/fort-worth-black-news-owner-publisher-jill-darden-celebrates-25-years\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Fort Worth Black News owner\/publisher Jill Darden celebrates 25 years<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Fort Worth Black News owner\/publisher Jill Darden celebrates 25 years&#8221; &#8212; Fort Worth Report\" src=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2022\/05\/10\/fort-worth-black-news-owner-publisher-jill-darden-celebrates-25-years\/embed\/#?secret=MrF3xBWS9a#?secret=IzVzxQo7VO\" data-secret=\"IzVzxQo7VO\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper operates with monthly editions <a href=\"https:\/\/fwblacknews.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">featuring several guest contributors<\/a>. For some time, the business ran as a local cable show in Cowtown before it was cast on the now-closed Urban America Television Network in the 2000s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In recent years, Darden grew Fort Worth Black News\u2019 online presence by using social media to update readers between the hard copy printing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper\u2019s future is not known at this time, her sister said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tarrant County Commissioner Roderick Miles Jr. described Darden as a \u201ctruth-teller\u201d who used her platform to lift up the people, places, churches, businesses, family and neighborhoods of Fort Worth\u2019s Black community.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe helped Fort Worth see itself more fully,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo\/?fbid=122159631992731056&amp;set=a.122099823224731056\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cShe celebrated our victories, documented our struggles and gave dignity to the everyday lives and contributions of people who make this community strong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Darden previously served as director of communications for the Fort Worth Metropolitan Black Chamber of Commerce. She was <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2023\/09\/25\/fort-worth-metropolitan-black-chamber-receives-chamber-of-the-year-honor\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">honored with the Media Partnership Award<\/a> from the Texas Association of African American Chambers of Commerce in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fort Worth Black Chamber President Michelle Green-Ford said her team was shocked by Darden\u2019s death, but that she will be remembered as being a \u201cvibrant force.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was a bold, articulate leader who saw service to others as her primary goal, that is second to being the number one cheerleader and supporter of her talented son, Jiles, who is a senior at the I.M. Terrell Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts,\u201d Green-Ford said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tarrant County College board member Gwendolyn Morrison said she\u2019ll miss Darden\u2019s journalistic integrity and the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/1376102917615084\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spiritual Side<\/a>\u201d videos focused on Christianity that she posted every Sunday on Facebook.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Beyond her newspaper roles, Darden authored several books, including \u201cThe Assignment: Raising a Strong Child.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Forest Hill Public Library manager Aurelia Wilson said Darden was a valued supporter who frequently partnered with the library district for author events.<\/p>\n<p>Darden was scheduled to participate in the library\u2019s second annual author expo on April 18, but was unable to attend \u201cdue to illness,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/p\/1AzMjZkF54\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to a Facebook post<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHer legacy will live on through her stories, which will continue to inspire and uplift our community. Her voice will always be treasured,\u201d Wilson wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Memorial service details will be announced at a later date.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>David Moreno is the arts and culture reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidmreports\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">@davidmreports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Fort Worth Report\u2019s arts and culture coverage is supported in part by the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation and the Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust. At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy <a href=\"https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/about\/fort-worth-report-editorial-independence-policy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/04\/27\/fort-worth-black-news-founder-jill-darden-dies-at-52\/&#8221;&gt;article&lt;\/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org&#8221;&gt;Fort Worth Report&lt;\/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&#8221;_blank&#8221; href=&#8221;https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/&#8221;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;\/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&#8221;https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=80&amp;amp;ssl=1&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&#8221;&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;img id=&#8221;republication-tracker-tool-source&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=513753&amp;amp;ga4=2820184429&#8243; style=&#8221;width:1px;height:1px;&#8221;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &#8220;https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/04\/27\/fort-worth-black-news-founder-jill-darden-dies-at-52\/&#8221;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;\/script&gt; &lt;script id=&#8221;parsely-cfg&#8221; src=&#8221;\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js&#8221;&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by David Moreno, Fort Worth Report April 27, 2026 Elected officials, business leaders and friends remember Fort Worth&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":757894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5138],"tags":[29830,5229,7371,7372,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-757893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-featured-obit","tag-america","tag-fort-worth","tag-fortworth","tag-texas","tag-tx","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/757894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}