In a world where "fake news" is a term known by just about anyone paying attention to current events, journalism's importance and history is increasingly being questioned. For his book released this year by the University of Illinois Press, Fred Carroll takes a look at the history of the commercial black press and how it intersected with alternative ideologies.
Carroll is a lecturer of history at Kennesaw State University and his area of expertise includes the fight for racial justice, from the Reconstruction period to the early past. "Race News: Black Journalists and the Fight for Racial Justice in the Twentieth Century" is his new title. He spoke with us about it - focusing on Illinois ties like the Chicago Defender and "First Lady of the Black Press" - Chicagoan Ethel Payne:
