Ethan Michaeli

If readers are looking for a book recommendation for the upcoming Black History Month, Ethan Michaeli's "​The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; From the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama​" may be the perfect choice. While a long book, it's one of the few long books I've read which didn't bog down and seem to be too long.

​I think of the book as something much like a wagon or bicycle wheel. We think of the large outer part of the wheel as the important part, providing the desired movement. But that movement is only achieved because that large outer wheel is connected by numerous spokes, each of which is important, to an central hub which initiates the driving force. In a similar way, the book discusses an important movement, that of the Black struggle for equality and social justice in the early and mid 20th Century. But that movement was achieved because of it's connection through many individual smaller struggles to the key central hub, "The Defender". "The Defender" was a small Chicago Newspaper started by and for the Black community in 1905, and which became a strong voice for social justice and equality for Blacks, not only in Chicago, but throughout the United States.

The book begins in the era of Jim Crow in the South and widespread segregation in the North. Robert Abbott came to Chicago during that era, and despite being a trained lawyer, struggled to find gainful employment. Despite numerous obstacles, in the early 1900's, Abbott founded "The Defender", a newspaper for the Black community. While many of the newspaper columns covered by "The Defender" were the significant issues in Chicago, Abbotts's newspaper also covered larger National issues, including lynchings in the South, and in particular the 1955 gruesome murder of 14 year-old Emmet Till in Mississippi; significant court cases; the inequities ​of segregation ​in the military in World War I and II; the Civil Rights movement; the struggle to integrate schools (not only in the South, but also in Chicago); stories of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King; ​boxer Jack Johnson; baseball player ​Jackie Robinson; and so many, many more. The Newspaper was able to not only bring attention to these issues, but also became a force for political change, and​ helped bring about improvements in housing, jobs, the military, ​and education for the Black community.
… (mere)

As Ethan Michaeli writes in his last paragraph: “The Defender allowed me to see the truth about America, that “race” is a pernicious lie that permeates our laws and customs, revived in each generation by entrenched interests that threaten to undermine the entire national enterprise, just as it is challenged in each generation by a courageous few who believe that this can truly become a bastion of justice and equality.”

A must-read book about the history of civil rights for African-Americans in the U.S., starting with Frederick Douglass’ address at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Michaeli writes this history from the perspective of the successful black-owned and managed newspaper, The Defender, founded in 1905 by Robert Abbott and passed along to John Sengstacke. The book tracks the Great Migration as Southern blacks flocked north to avoid persecution and find opportunities in Chicago, especially during WWI when immigration came to a halt, requiring people to work in factories. The book also follows the topsy-turvy political climate in Chicago, including the profound role played by the Southside in making its votes highly sought as black population growth and white flight provided real political power. Important issues segregation vs. desegregation in schools, neighborhoods, sports, military service are treated evenly. The Bud Billiken parade, created for newspaper carriers and sponsored by The Defender became an important event for the city, socially and politically, attracting famous actors, singers, sportsmen. The sad decline of this publication into obscurity and bankruptcy is chronicled too. Long but very rewarding.… (mere)

When I opened this book, I thought I was reading the history of a pioneering African-American newspaper, and I was, but I was also reading a history of the African-American community of Chicago, of the civil rights movement from Booker T. Washington to Barack Obama and of the Great Migration. Yet The Defender was an important part of all that history for a long time and Michaeli tells it well. Booker T Washington, Marcus Garvey, WEB Dubois, A. Philip Randolph, Ralph Bunch, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr and Jesse Jackson all appeared in the pages to The Defender, as did Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson and many more figures whose names are familiar, but I particularly liked the stories of the men and women who worked for the paper as reporters, editors, columnists and more. That story starts with founder Robert Abbott who came to Chicago from the rural South. This is a family saga as well as a saga of the struggle for freedom and equality by African-Americans. I was sorry to come to the end, but The Defender continues today as an online newspaper.… (mere)

The Defender is more than just a history of a newspaper; this well-researched history also follows the course of Civil Rights in our country. In addition, it includes a fair amount of Chicago history. It certainly shows the importance of a free and independent press: "The Defender was more than just a periodical: The newspaper carried with it messages, dreams, and hopes and plans...They weren't just selling a newspaper. They were informing the people of a better world."

When Robert Abbot founded the weekly newspaper in 1905, he wanted "to make his newspaper a force to combat the pervasive racism of the era." He continued with that goal until his death, when his nephew, John Sengstacke continued with his work.

Through the years, this newspaper endorsed local and national candidates, and its publisher had the ear of presidents. With the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, "The journalists felt a sense of personal pride in the justices' ruling, too, knowing that they had played an essential role in reaching this point. 'We weren't members of the regiment of lawyers headed by Thurgood Marshall that had argued the case ...on the other hand, we did not look upon ourselves as uninvolved onlookers just reporting what was happening. We felt that our stories and editorials had helped create the climate that made the decision possible.'"

Examples of the changes made possible by The Defender abound through this wonderful book. As the author says about his own experience working on the newspaper: "It had filled in so many of the blanks in American history left by the textbooks of my youth and showed me how things really work."

This book should be taught in history classes. Highly recommended.… (mere)