We Now Belong to Ourselves

At the turn of the twentieth century, the Black press provided a blueprint to help Black Americans transition from slavery and find opportunities to advance and prosper in American society. Among the vanguard of the Black press was Jefferson Lewis Edmonds, founder and editor of The Liberator newspaper. He was born into slavery in Mississippi, but, as a liberated adult, moved to Los Angeles and became a civil rights advocate, farmer, and journalist. We Now Belong to Ourselves chronicles how Edmonds and other pioneering Black publishers documented the shifting tides in the advancement of Black liberation. Written by Edmonds' great-great granddaughter, the book argues that the Black press was central in transforming Black Americans' communication patterns, constructing national resistance networks, and defining Black citizenship after Reconstruction--a vision, mission, and spirit that persists today through Black online social movements.