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Sign up todayThe Defender
How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America; from the Age of the Pullman Porters to the Age of Obama
Narrator
William Hughes
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Length
22 hours 8 minutes
Language
English
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, and was dubbed a “Modern Moses,” 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. Along the way, its pages were filled with columns by legends like Ida B. Wells, Langston Hughes, and Martin Luther King Jr.
Drawing on dozens of interviews and extensive archival research, Ethan Michaeli constructs a revelatory narrative of race in America from the age of Teddy Roosevelt to the age of Barack Obama and brings to life the reporters who braved lynch mobs and policemen’s clubs to do their jobs.
ETHAN MICHAELI is the author of The Defender: How the Legendary Black Newspaper Changed America—named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times and the Washington Post, a winner of Best Nonfiction prizes from both the Chicago Writers Association and the Society of Midland Authors, and short-listed for the Mark Lynton History Prize presented by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Previously, Ethan founded Residents’ Journal, a magazine written and produced by the tenants of Chicago’s public housing developments and an affiliated not-for-profit organization, We the People Media. Currently a lecturer at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, he is also a senior adviser for communications and development at the Goldin Institute, an international not-for-profit organization collaborating with social change activists in forty different countries. Ethan has served as a judge of national literary contests, and his shorter work has been published by Oxford University Press, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Forward, the Chicago Tribune, and other venues.
William Hughes is an AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. A professor of political science at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon, he received his doctorate in American politics from the University of California at Davis. He has done voice-over work for radio and film and is also an accomplished jazz guitarist.
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Reviews
“Conscientiously researched and fluent…a record of the African-American struggle in our times.”
“[An] epic, meticulously detailed account.”
“An extraordinary history…Deeply researched, elegantly written…A towering achievement that will not be soon forgotten.”
“A fascinating account of the legendary black newspaper that spoke truth to power, fought for equality, and made history.”
“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.”
“Tackles an enormous swath of American history in his thorough, painstaking account of the newspaper’s rise to prominence…A pertinent, well-fashioned American success saga.”
“Narrator William Hughes brings a keen awareness of the importance of this monumental audiobook. His clear and modulated performance works well for this account of the glory days of the Defender, giving listeners a sense of how this preeminent African-American newspaper achieved its fame…This is a remarkable audiobook.”
“Engagingly written and copiously sourced…offers general readers and scholars alike a focused look back at twentieth-century battles against America’s pervasive racism.”
“As a former publicist focused on black projects, I pitched this once might paper often and eagerly. A beautiful and brave history in the black community. Started in 1905. A huge legacy. Saluting everyone who ever worked at the Chicago Devender.”
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