Event: How the Black Press Fought to Uphold Democracy in Georgia

Georgia’s Long Struggle Toward Democracy: The Role of the Press, Then and Now

The Baton Foundation will host a lecture about the role of Black press leaders in Georgia’s ongoing struggle for democracy. This program is free to the public, but registration is required.

About the Program
Georgia and its capital city, Atlanta, have long played a central role in the U.S. struggle to achieve the democratic ideals set forth in its founding documents. From the end of the Civil War (1861-1865) to the present, a reactionary, anti-democratic, White nationalist press has often worked against these efforts.

Using their book, Journalism and Jim Crow (University of Illinois Press, 2021), as a backdrop, professors D’Weston Haywood and Kathy Roberts Forde will discuss how White press leaders, collaborating with Georgia governors, senators, officials, and business leaders, helped build a violent White supremacist society and political economy that endured for generations after the war. They also will tell the equally compelling story about how Black press leaders fought back–documenting, in real time, what was happening while marshaling a collective Black power to forge a more inclusive and just democracy in the state, the South, and in the nation. Drs. Forde and Haywood will connect this history to the momentous events taking place in Georgia today.

Advertisement