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Exploration of Race
The Rise and Fall of the Black Press: Attribute to some of the
well known and some not so well known figures in the Black press
W.E.B. DuBois
Frederick Douglass
Compiled by
Kimathi Lewis
From the earliest days of the
nation, the concept of free press,
therefore free speech, was
meaningless to Black people in
America. Their voices and
images were controlled by the
mainstream media, or white
press, whose principal interest
was to support the continued
enslavement of Blacks.
B ut the birth of the Black press
gave Blacks a new chance to
create and reflect their own im
ages. With the Black press
emerged the concept of control
for those who chose to fight to
maintain it.
In the earlier days when the
white press referred to Blacks, it
was to launch vicious attacks
against them. And, for a while,
their racist attacks went
unchallenged.
That was until America’s first
Black college student John
Russwurm took pen and paper
and wrote the following words:
“We wish to plead our own
cause.”
He continued, “Too long have
others spoken for us. Too long
has the public been deceived by
misrepresentations in things
which concern us dearly...”
It was on this premise that
Russwurm, along with his
partner Samuel E. Cornish,
started Freedom’s Journal ,
America’s first Black newspa
per, March 16, 1827 in New
York City. The paper remained
in publication for two years
before it disappeared into the
folds of history. But,
Russwurm’s and Cornish’s
stance would give rise to more
Black newspapers — a new era
had begun and Black people
were the benefactors and the
beneficiaries.
Forty or more Black papers
would appear prior to the Civil
War, the most prominent of
which was said to be the North
Star founded in 1847 by
Frederick Douglass. He changed
the weekly to a monthly in the
mid-1860s, but he stopped pub
lication three years later.
By 1890,875 papers had come
into being, and although many
were short lived due to financial
difficulties, these newspapers
established the tradition of an
independent Black press. Blacks
had found their own newspapers
to be the best method of telling
their stories and in the process,
created an institution they could
dominate.
But maintaining that
domination would not be easy.
In the Compromise of 1877,
the North removed the Federal
presence from the South and
lynchings were again on the up
rise. It was definitely not a time
to be militant, but for some, the
consequence did not matter.
Ida B. Wells, part-owner of
the Memphis Free Speech and
Highlight, wrote fiery
commentaries denouncing the
lynchings of Blacks in the South.
In 1892, she wrote an
investigative piece on three Black
men who had been taken from
the Memphis jail and killed.
“The city of Memphis has
demonstrated that neither
character nor standing avails the
Negro, if he dares to protect
himself against the white man or
become his rival,” she wrote
under the pseudonym Iola. “We
are out-numbered and without
arms.”
Eventually, Wells was forced
to go into exile from the South
and she went to Chicago where
she continued her campaign for
Black people’s rights.
Also, William Monroe Trotter,
said to be one of the most
neglected and least understood
figures in the Black press, would
bring anew militancy to the press.
Trotter, an Harvard graduate,
became editor of Boston’s The
Guardian on Nov. 9, 1901. In
that position, he campaigned
against the racist film, “Birth of
the Nation,” and confronted
President Woodrow Wilson over
the segregated facilities forBlack
and white Federal employees.
Historian Lerone Bennett
described Trotter has a true
pioneer, decades ahead of his
time. “Trotter laid the first stone
of the modern protest
movement,” he said.
Trotter introduced a militancy
and under his guide, other Black
papers appeared and became a
dominant force in Black life.
These newspapers could also
become economically viable as
proven by Robert Abbott, who
was described as “the greatest
single voice in the Black press.”
As the founder of the Chicago
Defender, Abbott brought
sensationalism to the press with
screaming headlines highlighting
crime stories and the latest scan
dals. But at the same time, the
paper continued its crusade
against segregation and
discrimination.
The Defender’s position of
prominence declined during the
Depression of the 30s and Abbott,
now older, was never able to
regain that position.
But by then white America’s
displeasure with the Black press
had grown and they would try to
force the Black press into
submission.
Their wish would be denied.
Many Black publications con
tinued their fight for justice in
cluding The National Associa
tion for the Advancement of
Colored People' paper The Crisis
under the editorship of W.E.B.
DuBois.
After the war ended, the Black
press was stronger than ever and
a decade later there was an
alteration in America’s way of
life. Discrimination and
segregation lost their protection
under the law- they were no
longer publicly acceptable.
But they had not disappeared
entirely.
The Black papers had a single-
minded devotion to protest
against slavery, lynchings and
other injustices. Without the
impact and influence of the Black
press, the reality of Black
America may never have been
known. And, until their reasons
for existing has been
accomplished, their task is far
from being over.
Many of the Black newspapers
went out of publication because
of lack of financial support. This
is still a reality as many struggle
to remain in publication. Without
support, Black people are in
danger of losing a source of
control — forever.
"A man who will not labor to gain his rights, is a man who would not, if he had them,
prize and defend them."—Frederick Douglass