Black Press Day

History

• Freedom’s Journal Launches the Black Press
• The Afro-American Newspaper Was Founded
• Robert S. Abbott founded The Chicago Defender
• The Tulsa Star Investigates White Mob Violence
• Black Publishers Form a National Association
• Black Newspapers Document the Civil Rights Struggle
• Black Press Day Timeline

Significance

• Honors the legacy of Black-owned newspapers
• Serves as a call to action for readers to support Black-owned publications
• Symbolizes a commitment to truth, justice, and representation

Facts

• Printing Freedom’s Journal Was Also a Political Act
• Black Newspapers Once Numbered in the Thousands
• The Chicago Defender Helped Drive the Great Migration
• The Double V Campaign Linked Racism at Home to Fascism Abroad
• Ida B. Wells’s Anti-Lynching Reporting Cost Her a Newspaper
• Women Pioneered Ownership in the Black Press
• Today’s Black Press Is Organized as a National Network

FAQs

• Black newspapers were pivotal in fueling the Civil Rights Movement
• They published stories mainstream media ignored
• Papers like the Chicago Defender and Pittsburgh Courier championed civil rights long before national media took notice
• Their in-depth reporting helped shape the movement, mobilizing readers to push for change