Sharon McGriff-Payne has called the North Bay Area of California home nearly her entire life. She has written for daily newspapers in New York, California and Florida. In the early 1990s she fulfilled a lifelong dream and launched her own weekly newspaper, The North Bay Progress. McGriff-Payne lives in Vallejo, California with her husband Clarence Payne.
Searching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran
In the following article Sharon McGriff-Payne, a newspaper reporter and independent historian, describes her search for the history of John Grider, an early black pioneer and member of the Bear Flag Party which declared California’s independence from Mexico on June 14, 1846. McGriff-Payne, like Girder … Read MoreSearching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran