The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America

Michaeli, Ethan

ISBN 10: 0547560699 / ISBN 13: 9780547560694

Published by Houghton Mifflin, 2016

Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0547560699I3N00

Synopsis:

“An extraordinary history…Deeply researched, elegantly written…a towering achievement that will not be soon forgotten.” —Brent Staples, New York Times Book Review

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY 
The New York Times Book Review • The Washington Post • Amazon

Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded The Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, and was dubbed a "Modern Moses," becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process. His successor wielded the newspaper’s clout to elect mayors and presidents, including Harry S. Truman and John F. Kennedy, who would have lost in 1960 if not for TheDefender’s support. Along the way, its pages were filled with columns by legends like Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King.

Drawing on dozens of interviews and extensive archival research, Ethan Michaeli constructs a revelatory narrative of race in America and brings to life the reporters who braved lynch mobs and policemen’s clubs to do their jobs, from the age of Teddy Roosevelt to the age of Barack Obama.

About the Author:

ETHAN MICHAELI is an award-winning author, publisher, and journalist based in Chicago. He was a copy editor and investigative reporter at The Defender from 1991 to 1996.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Defender: How the Legendary Black ...
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Publication Date: 2016
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket