"We Need a Press—a Press of Our Own": The Black Press beyond Abolition

Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to counter a common misunderstanding that conflates the early Black press with the antislavery press. This view has held sway for decades in countless bibliographies and library catalogs, not to mention books, articles, and syllabi.1 The largest bibliography of African American periodicals, for example, includes dozens of white-edited abolitionist newspapers.2 To be sure, the Black men and women who edited antebellum newspapers did fight fiercely for the end of slavery, but they cared about far more. They created a press that dealt with the full range of issues and interests that attended antebellum Black life. The fight to abolish slavery was one piece of a much broader and more complex struggle for Black freedom and justice in the United States. This shift is less a matter of historiography than historical accuracy. Antebellum Black editors almost always asserted an independence and remit that exceeded the antislavery societies. In columns written to introduce every new publication, editors staked out a vast range of editorial positions and perspectives that catered to their ostensibly free Black readers. These columns touched on many topics, ranging from matters of collective self-defense—against racism,