[1] Milton Allimadi and Mana Lumumba Kasongo, both recent graduates of the Columbia School of Journalism, launched the Black Star on October 1, 1997.

[2][3][4] The Black Star was one of 400 news organizations to receive a $5,000 grant from Facebook to mitigate unexpected expenses due to COVID-19.

[7] A 2020 story in the Jackson Advocate described the Black Star as a "top publication", listing it alongside the New York Times, Politico, The Hill, and others.

Though described as "small", its investigative reporting of a scandal involving Morgan Stanley in 1999 was credited in major news organizations including The Wall Street Journal and Brill's Content.

[9] In 2010, when republishing an editorial by Allimadi, the San Francisco Bay View described the Black Star as "New York's leading Pan African weekly investigative newspaper.