The black press.

The author discusses the history development of the African American press, arguing that the black press emerged as a response to a series of events and injustices that compelled freeborn post-Revolutionary African Americans to give collective voice to their grievances and aspirations. Wilson traces the history of the African American press, from its roots in the freedom struggles of the late 18th century; the rise of newspapers in the early 19th century and the publication of the first African American newspaper in 1827; the slow growth of the black press prior to the Civil War; the emergence of black newspapers in the South and black women journalists following the Civil War; the role of the black press in shaping opinion about the Great Migration and World War I; the flowering of the Harlem Renaissance through World War II; the Civil Rights era from 1945 to 1979; and trends from the 1980s into the 21st century. Wilson explores the business challenges confronting African American newspapers from the 1970s to the present as daily white newspapers began to cover the civil rights movement and the issues of the African American community. In 2005 the NNPA reported approximately 200 dues-paying member newspapers in the US and the Virgin Islands. Following the essay, a bibliography of recommended reading, a chronology of events from 1787 to 2002, and a glossary are presented.