Over on my Bookstagram account, I'm participating in the Mega May challenge where you commit to reading a 500-plus page book that you've been meaning to read.
I've committed to four and honestly, I think I can finish all four! I'm halfway there.
This book was an ABSOLUTE steal. I found it at McKay's Books for $12. Don't you love that? It was in perfect condition and is right up my alley, being a Black journalist. Let's get into it!
SUMMARY
The Chicago Defender was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and is still in publication today. The newspaper condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration and focused the electoral power of Black America.
It was smuggled into isolated communities in the segregated South, helped elect mayors and presidents and had contributions from legends like Richard Wright, Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King Jr.
Defender alum Ethan Michaeli brings to life the reporters who braved lynch mobs and police brutality to do their jobs from the age of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama.
MY THOUGHTS
What a book. I'd always known about the Defender in passing from the books I read, but this was an absolutely exhaustive history of the newspaper. Also, I'm going to Chicago this week, so I'm happy to know more about the history of the city through this book.
I don't think I realized how much impact the city of Chicago had in the formation of Black America during the 1900s, 1940s, 1960s etc. I really enjoyed that the Michaeli included himself in the last two chapters of this book. Usually, I hate it, but it gave an added realism to this history book, if that makes sense.
This is an absolutely beautiful book.
No comments:
Post a Comment