We Now Belong to Ourselves: J.L. Edmonds, The Black Press, and Black Citizenship in America

Weaving together poetry, personal narrative, and never-before-seen documents from the Jefferson Lewis Edmonds' family archive, Arianne Edmonds provides a wide-ranging look at how the Black Press of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries defined Black citizenship after Reconstruction, fostered networks of resistance, and set in motion critical social justice narratives that are still relevant today.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Black press provided a blueprint to help Black Americans transition from slavery and find opportunities for African American citizenship. Among the vanguard of the Black press was Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, founder and editor of The Liberator. His Los Angeles-based newspaper championed for women's rights, land and business ownership, education, and civic engagement, while condemning violent acts against African Americans. It also encouraged readers to move west and build new communities.

Edmonds took this fierce perspective in his career as a journalist, for he himself was born into slavery and dedicated his life to creating pathways of liberation for those who came after him. Across the pages of his newspaper, Edmonds painted a different perspective on Black life in America and championed for his community. The Liberator, along with a chorus of Black newspapers at the turn of the century, educated an entire generation on how to guard their rights and take claim of their new American citizenship.

Written by J.L. Edmonds' great-great granddaughter, this biography chronicles how Edmonds and other pioneering Black publishers documented the shift in the advancement of Black liberation. Arianne Edmonds argues that the Black press was central in transforming Black Americans' communication, constructing national resistance, and defining Black citizenship after Reconstruction. We Now Belong to Ourselves tells how Edmonds used his platform to center Black joy, Black triumph, and radical Black acceptance.

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Lydbog: 30. september 2025