Hats off to the Black Press. I hate to think of what would have happened to blacks in America if it were not for the Black Press or what would happen in the future. The Black Press has always published our side of the story. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. never could have been as successful with the Civil Rights Movement as he was. It was the Black Press that exposed white Americans.
There were some whites in America who were not aware of the injustice blacks were receiving. It was the Black Press that exposed policeman Jon Burge of Chicago who was putting an electric instrument to blacks and making them lie that they were guilty when they were not. Some were sentenced to be executed. Due to Jon Burge’s action the city has to pay $20 million.
Due to the Jon Burge case and other mistreatment of blacks in Chicago that have been exposed by the Black Press, the city has to pay out $38 million. It is the Black Press that is helping us most in our new movement (economics). I read in the Black Press that King said before he was assassinated that we must change the civil rights struggle to a struggle for economic and political improvement. I read in the Black Press in 2006 that the National Urban League changed their agenda from public relations and social work to improving the economic conditions of the black communities. It is the black press that is now publishing about the many economic summits being held in various parts of the country.
I know it is the Black Press that is causing me and the United American Progress Association to be known. In 1961, I organized the U.A.P.A. to get more blacks involved in business ownership. I feel education, votes and proper use of our dollars can get blacks off the bottom.
The Black Press enabled me to stay informed. I read at least nine each week. The Bulletin News, South Street Journal, Chicago Crusaders, Citizen News, Chicago Defender, Chicago Standard Newspaper, Jackson Advocate, Wake up News, N’Digo and Austin Weekly News. I wish all blacks could see the value of the Black Press to our struggle as I do.
