The Journal of Freedom was the first African American newspaper in North Carolina. It was founded on September 30, 1865, and dissolved the next month. Edward P. Brooks, a white journalist and former member of the Union Army, was its editor.

Edward P. Brooks was a white^[1] journalist who worked at the Daily Progress of Raleigh and as a correspondent for The New York Times and served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.^[2]

The Journal of Freedom was first published as a weekly newspaper on September 30, 1865, by Edward P. Brooks in Raleigh.^[1] The paper was established for the freedpeople of the state – black North Carolinans who were recently freed from slavery in the aftermath of the Civil War – and it was the first African American newspaper in North Carolina.^[1] It advocated for the civil rights of African Americans,^[1] especially universal suffrage for men.^[3] It was Republican in its political orientation.^[3] The political mission of the paper was opposed by the Daily Progress; the writer of one article stated "we are opposed to the extension of the right of suffrage to the blacks", while it also wished Brooks financial success "as a friend".^[4]

Subscriptions to the paper cost $4 per year,^[2] and it had perhaps 1,000 subscribers.^[5] It was supported by those attending the 1865 North Carolina freedmen convention.^[1] The convention called for freedpeople to support the paper, but it dissolved on October 28, 1865.^[1] It was succeeded by several other newspapers for North Carolina's black community, including the Raleigh Enterprise (founded in 1866), the African Expositor (1877), and the Journal of Freedom (1879).^[3]