“This is history at its best-engagingly written, meticulously researched, and infused with fascinating characters and vivid scenes. “A sprawling, well-researched panoramic with surprisingly fluid prose.” - In These Times “A captivating read.”- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette “A fascinating account of the legendary black newspaper that spoke truth to power, fought for equality and made history.”- Minneapolis Star Tribune “This prodigiously researched work is a testament to the courage of Defender writers through the century, a chronicle of the influence of an important institution-and a sweeping history of black America.”- National Book Review “Ethan Michaeli’s epic, meticulously detailed account not only reminds its readers that newspapers matter, but so do black lives, past and present.”- USA Today “Conscientiously researched and fluent, The Defender is essentially a record of the African American struggle in our times.”- Wall Street Journal Kennedy, who would have lost in 1960 if not for The Defender’s support.ĭrawing 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. His successor wielded the newspaper’s clout to elect mayors and presidents, including Harry S. Abbott founded The Defender in 1905, smuggled hundreds of thousands of copies into the most isolated communities in the segregated South, becoming one of the first black millionaires in the process.
Giving voice to the voiceless, The Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. “ epic, meticulously detailed account not only reminds its readers that newspapers matter, but so do black lives, past and present.”- USA Today “An extraordinary history…Deeply researched, elegantly written…a towering achievement that will not be soon forgotten.”-Brent Staples, New York Times Book Review
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