The Black Press

The term “Black Press” is an umbrella term that includes a diverse set of publications that include a small number of religious and mostly secular magazines and newspapers published by Black people in the United States from 1827 to the present. While religious newspapers are an integral part of the Black Press cultural tradition, of particular interest is how papers outside of formal Black religious dominations and institutions negotiated their self-defined racial uplift mission with their desire to attract readers to purchase and read newspapers. This focus does not deny the tremendous significance of Black religious print culture and the role it played in conveying African American cultural expression. Nineteenth-century religious papers like the Christian Recorder (1852–) were instrumental to the publication of early Black literature. Focusing on a small number of religious publications, then, provides a window into how they worked in conjunction with secular newspapers to define Black life in the United States. A newspaper is defined as “Black” if the publisher and principal editor or editors characterized themselves as such. Immigrant and foreign-language Black newspapers published in the United States were closer to the immigrant press. The history of the Black Press in the United States is simultaneously rooted in uplift and protest against racial injustice. Two Black abolitionists—Presbyterian minister Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm, one of the nation’s first African American college graduates—created the first Black newspaper, Freedom’s Journal, in 1827 to promote self-help and respond to anti-Black attacks in white papers. The first issue of Freedom’s Journal famously related the sentiments of its founders: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations in things which concern us dearly.” Indeed, Cornish and Russwurm’s statements define close to 200 years of Black journalism that created the necessary political and social space for African Americans to recover their humanity. Despite the significant role the Black Press has and continues to play, to some degree, the cultural history of the Black Press is underexamined relative to the emphasis that historians place on the race advocacy and protest mission of African American newspapers. Close examination reveals that the Black Press’s power lay not only in its capacity to assert the rights and humanity of Black people through agitation but also in the ways it reinforced and amplified the unique and lively culture of African Americans. To this end, the Black Press created a countercultural public of Black peoples’ image and identity that was equally instrumental in refuting the discrimination they faced in American society.

Black Media Reporting on Theater, Dance, and Jazz Clubs in Canada: From Shuffle along to Rockhead’s Paradise

Canada has a history of de facto Jim Crow (1911–1954). It also has a historical Black press that is intimately connected to Black America through transnational conversations, and diasporic migration. This article argues that Canada’s Black newspapers played a pivotal role in promoting Black performance during a time when they were scarcely covered in the dominant media. Drawing on news coverage from the 1920s through 1950s of black dance, musicals, and jazz clubs this article examines three case studies: Shuffle Along (1921–1924), the first all- Black Broadway musical to appear at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theater, Alberta-born dancer Len Gibson (1926–2008), who revolutionized modern dance in Canada in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Montreal jazz club Rockhead’s Paradise (1928–1980), a pivotal site in the city’s Little Burgundy, a Black neighborhood that thrived in the 1930s through 1950s. The authors argue that when Black people were excluded from and/or derogatorily portrayed in the dominant media, Canada’s Black press celebrated collective achievement by authenticating Black performance. By incorporating Canada’s Black Press into conversations about Jim Crow and performance, we gain a deeper understanding of Black creative output and resistance during the period.

Advocacy journalism in the 21st century: Rethinking entertainment in digital Black press outlets

The Black press is often conceptualized as an advocacy press, but in the current digital environment, in which there are numerous entertainment-focused outlets, what exactly constitutes advocacy is fraught. Perceptions of advocacy, which have previously been associated with hard news content, are broadening to accommodate the entertainment content on Black news websites. Informed by interviews with journalists and focus groups with readers, this research finds that there are two different categorizations of advocacy journalism – hard advocacy and soft advocacy. Some editors and consumers believe the Black press should contain hard advocacy content, such as political activism coverage, while others perceive entertainment in the Black press, which provides positive coverage of African Americans and additional representation of Black life, as soft advocacy. Expanding advocacy conceptions provides further nuance and insight into how the Black press functions in the new media age.

What the Death of Local News Means for the Federal Election..In the absence of media scrutiny, politicians have started to spin their own stories

Resignation and outrage colour veteran journalist Mary-Ann Barr’s voice as she reflects on the Red Deer Advocate and its coverage of the recent Alberta provincial election. “There was a brief in the paper yesterday about who the candidates are—buried on page four,” says the former editor and reporter who spent thirty-one years at what is now Red Deer’s last remaining local newspaper. Black Press Media, which owns almost a 100 papers in western Canada, announced last month it could no longer afford two competing titles in the same city and shut down the weekly Red Deer Express.

What the Death of Local News Means for the Federal Election..In the absence of media scrutiny, politicians have started to spin their own stories

Resignation and outrage colour veteran journalist Mary-Ann Barr’s voice as she reflects on the Red Deer Advocate and its coverage of the recent Alberta provincial election. “There was a brief in the paper yesterday about who the candidates are—buried on page four,” says the former editor and reporter who spent thirty-one years at what is now Red Deer’s last remaining local newspaper. Black Press Media, which owns almost a 100 papers in western Canada, announced last month it could no longer afford two competing titles in the same city and shut down the weekly Red Deer Express.

A educação do negro na imprensa paulista do fim do século XIX (1880-1900)

A educação do negro na imprensa paulista do fim do século XIX (1880 - 1900) Resumo: O presente artigo é parte de uma pesquisa que contempla os projetos para a educação dos ingênuos veiculados na imprensa paulista entre a promulgação da Lei do Vente Livre (1871) e os anos subsequentes à abolição da escravidão. Tomando como pressuposto que as ideias são produtos culturais gestados em redes de sociabilidade, analisamos de que maneira as noções acerca de raça e modernização relacionavam-se às propostas educativas para os filhos de escravas na imprensa, suporte material privilegiado para tal circulação de ideias. Trabalhando com três periódicos que julgamos representativos dos segmentos identificados como “imprensa branca”, “imprensa negra” e “imprensa abolicionista”, tidos como fonte e objeto, notamos diferenças substanciais na abordagem relativa ao tema, mesmo identificando o trânsito de colaboradores entre espaços de sociabilidade comuns.Palavras-chave: História da Educação. Raízes da educação brasileira. Cultura afro-brasileira. Education of black people in the press of São Paulo during 19th century Abstract: This article is a part of a research that intends to present the educational projects for slave’s children published in the São Paulo press between the promulgation of free womb law (1871) and the first years after the liberty (emancipation) of slaves, as a part of our master thesis. Thus, we analised how the relations between ideas of race and modernity and the education proposals for slave’s children were presented in the press, having the premise that ideas are cultural products from sociability networks and the journals the material pillar for the ideas’ circulation. Contemplated as historical source and research object, tree journals we consider representative of kinds of press named as “white press”, “black press” and “abolitionist press” were analyzed, in which we notice distinctive differences, although it is noteworthy that collaborators sometimes were in the same sociability places. Keywords: History of education. Roots of Brazilian education. Afro-Brazilian culture La educación del negro en la prensa paulista de finales del siglo XIX (1880 - 1900) Resumen: El presente artículo, como parte de una investigación académica más amplia, abarca los proyectos para la educación de los ingenuos vehiculados en la prensa paulista entre la promulgación de la Ley del Vientre Libre (1871) y los años subsiguientes a la abolición de la esclavitud. Tenido como presupuesto que las ideas son productos culturales criados en redes de sociabilidad, analizamos de qué manera las ideas acerca de la raza y de la modernización se referían a las propuestas educativas para los hijos de las esclavas en tres vehículos de la prensa, suporte material privilegiado para tal circulación de ideas. Tomando para análisis tres jornales que consideramos representativo de lo que identificamos como “prensa branca”, “prensa negra” y “prensa abolicionista”, entendido como fuente y objeto histórico, notamos diferencias substanciales en la abordaje relativa al tema, aunque tenido identificado el tránsito de colaboradores entre los espacios de sociabilidad comunes.Palabras clave: Historia de la Educación. Raíces de la educación brasileña. Cultura afro-brasileña Data de registro: 24/02/2019 Data de aceite: 29/10/2020 Apoio: CAPES.