X – I = Nine Principles of the Chicago Defender

Ayanna said: Your blog post today is so full of intriguing tidbits! Who was behind the Chicago Tribune campaign? Who funded that paper? Any notable people writing for the paper during that time?

The Chicago Defender was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott. He was the brother-in-law of Susan Richardson Abbott, who I wrote two blog posts several years ago. The Defender played a critical role in the Great Migration by advocating for racial equality and black empowerment.

1. American Race Prejudice Must Be Destroyed: Active combatting of racism.
2. Opening Up of All Trades and Businesses: Equal economic opportunity.
3. Federal Legislation to Abolish Lynching: Making lynching a federal crime.
4. Representation in President’s Cabinet: Political representation at the highest level.
5. Full Enfranchisement of All American Citizens: Ensuring the right to vote.
6. Selection of Judges: Appointing, not just electing, fair judges.
7. Opposition to Segregation: Fighting Jim Crow in all forms.
8. Fair Treatment in Public Accommodations: Ending segregation in transportation and public spaces.
9. Justice in Courts: Ensuring equal treatment under the law. 

The Land of Hope

I’ve watched the trains as they disappeared
Behind the clouds of smoke,
Carrying the crowds of working men To the land of hope,
Working hard on southern soil, Someone softly spoke;
“Toil and toil, and toil and toil, And yet I’m always broke.”
On the farms I’ve labored hard, And never missed a day;
With wife and children by my side We journeyed on our way.
But now the year is passed and gone, And every penny spent,
And all my little food supplies Were taken ‘way for rent.
Yes, we are going to the north!
I don’t care to what state, Just as long as I cross the Dixon Line,
From this land of southern hate, Lynched and burned and shot and hung,
And not a word is said.
No law whatever to protect- It’s just a “nigger” dead.
Go on, dear brother; you’ll ne’er regret;
Just trust in God; pray for the best,
And in the end you’re sure to find “Happiness will be thine.”
William Crosse’s poem appeared in the Chicago Defender, c 1920

According to Wikapedia: In 1919–1922, the Defender attracted the writing talents of Langston Hughes; from the 1940s through 1960s, Hughes wrote an opinion column for the paper. Washington, D.C., and international correspondent Ethel Payne, poet Gwendolyn Brooks, author Willard Motley, music critic Dave Peyton, journalists Ida B. Wells, L. Alex Wilson and Louis Lomax wrote for the paper at different times.

The Chicago Defender home page today. There is now only an online presence. The last print edition came out in 2019.

Lynching was just made a federal crime on March 8, 2022! You can read more here – Lynching is now a federal hate crime after a century of blocked efforts

Lynching was a local crime, but was not prosecuted when white people lynched African Americans. Making it a federal crime allowed the federal government to step in and prosecute the guilty parties. That is why there had been a century long campaign to make it a federal crime.