Africa: Liberation, Information, and the Pan-Africanist Press

Posted to the web 9 October 2008 Walter Turner Reviewing the historic role of African and African-American publications in the struggle for representation and access to information, Walter Turner situates Pambazuka News in an established line of liberatory writing. While illustrating the ability of publications like Pambazuka to catalyse social change, Turner stresses respect for the history of activist media and the importance of continual support to sustain their future vitality. The following words were highlighted on the front page of the first African American owned and operated newspaper in the United States, Freedoms Journal (1827): 'We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.' The founders of Freedoms Journal, Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwurm published 52 issues of Freedoms Journal that were... [read full story]