The Defender : How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America
Author(s): Ethan Michaeli
“An extraordinary history…Deeply researched, elegantly written…a towering achievement that will not be soon forgotten.”—Brent Staples, New York Times Book Review
“[This] epic, meticulously detailed account not only reminds its readers that newspapers matter, but so do black lives, past and present.”—USA Today
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, 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 The Defender’s support.
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.
Review(s):
“An extraordinary history…Deeply researched, elegantly written…a towering achievement that will not be soon forgotten.” —Brent Staples, New York Times Book Review "Conscientiously researched and fluent, The Defender is essentially a record of the African-American struggle in our times.” –Wall Street Journal "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 “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 “A fascinating account of the legendary black newspaper that spoke truth to power, fought for equality and made history.” –Minneapolis Star Tribune "A captivating read." –Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "A sprawling, well-researched panoramic with surprisingly fluid prose." –In These Times “This is history at its best -- engagingly written, meticulously researched, and infused with fascinating characters and vivid scenes. Ethan Michaeli tells an important American story, and tells it with style and remarkable attention to detail.”–Dean Jobb, author of Empire of Deception, writing for the judges of the Chicago Writers Association, from whom The Defender received the 2016 Award for Non-Fiction (Traditionally Published) “Ethan Michaeli's The Defender is a rich, majestic, sweeping history, both of a newspaper and of a people. In these pages, Michaeli captures the degradation and exhilaration of black America in the twentieth century, and driving this story are a handful of men and women infused with incredible courage and a deep faith in journalism's power to seek justice.” —Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here. “In the spring of 1905 Robert Abbott sat at a card table squeezed into a corner of a realtor’s office on Chicago’s South Side to put together the first issue of a newspaper he called The Defender. In the 110 years since it has more than lived up to its name, its pages filled with searing reports of racial injustice and fierce editorials in support of its readers’ rights. Now Ethan Michaeli has recreated The Defender’s remarkable history—and reminded us of the power of the press at its courageous best.” —Kevin Boyle, author of the National Book Award-winning Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights and Murder in the Jazz Age “This is a major work of American history—the compelling and richly-researched story of the legendary newspaper and the astonishing collection of history-makers whose lives are forever intertwined.” —Jonathan Alter, author of The Center Holds: Obama and his Enemies “Here, at long last, is the story that needed to be told. In The Defender, Ethan Michaeli has laid out the power and importance of a fearless newspaper in the struggle for black equality. Meticulously researched, engagingly written, Michaeli's landmark history of this storied institution, which has served at key moments as lens, interpreter, catalyst or voice for blacks’ full citizenship rights, will become an essential res
ISBN: 9781328470249