Political Quotes

“this year marks the centennial, the 100th anniversary, of the birth of the Chicago Defender, one of America's great, historic institutions which make up the fourth estate, our free press. The Defender, founded in 1905 by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, follows in the tradition of Freedom's Journal founded by Samuel Cornish and John B. Russwarm, and the North Star founded by Frederick Douglass. Abbott began publishing the Defender out of his kitchen, producing about 300 copies at a quarter each. By 1929, the Defender was selling more than 250,000 copies each week. From its first days, the Defender has also been a campaigner for freedom, equality and justice under the slogan, ``American race prejudice must be destroyed.'' It has covered stories largely ignored by white-owned press. The Chicago Defender reported the 1919 Chicago riots, the election of Oscar DePriest to Congress, and the opening of the first U.S. bank owned and operated by an African American. The Chicago Defender covered the aftermath of the death of Emmett Till and the career of the honorable Elijah Mohammad. In its editorial pages, the Defender exposed white oppression and the lynching of African Americans. During World War I, the Defender urged equal treatment of black soldiers. During World War II, the Defender protested the treatment of African American servicemen protecting the Nation and urged the integration of the Armed Forces.…”