Watching protesters fill the streets across the globe over the police killings of African Americans, I thought of the opening words of Freedom’s Journal, the first Black-owned and operated newspaper in the United States: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misinterpretations, in things which concern us dearly.”

These words were written in 1827, when most African Americans were enslaved, and most white Americans were fine with that. The Civil War was almost 40 years away, but the Black creators of Freedom’s Journal already imagined a different world and insisted on raising their own voices to bring it into being. These words were written in 1827, when most African Americans were enslaved, and most white Americans were fine with that. The Civil War was almost 40 years away, but the Black creators of Freedom’s Journal already imagined a different world and insisted on raising their own voices to bring it into being.

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7/12/20

The Los Angeles Times