Ethan Michaeli

The Defender is more than just a history of a newspaper; this well-researched history also follows the course of Civil Rights in our country. In addition, it includes a fair amount of Chicago history. It certainly shows the importance of a free and independent press: "The Defender was more than just a periodical: The newspaper carried with it messages, dreams, and hopes and plans...They weren't just selling a newspaper. They were informing the people of a better world."

When Robert Abbot show more founded the weekly newspaper in 1905, he wanted "to make his newspaper a force to combat the pervasive racism of the era." He continued with that goal until his death, when his nephew, John Sengstacke continued with his work.

Through the years, this newspaper endorsed local and national candidates, and its publisher had the ear of presidents. With the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, "The journalists felt a sense of personal pride in the justices' ruling, too, knowing that they had played an essential role in reaching this point. 'We weren't members of the regiment of lawyers headed by Thurgood Marshall that had argued the case ...on the other hand, we did not look upon ourselves as uninvolved onlookers just reporting what was happening. We felt that our stories and editorials had helped create the climate that made the decision possible.'"

Examples of the changes made possible by The Defender abound through this wonderful book. As the author says about his own experience working on the newspaper: "It had filled in so many of the blanks in American history left by the textbooks of my youth and showed me how things really work."

This book should be taught in history classes. Highly recommended. show less

When I opened this book, I thought I was reading the history of a pioneering African-American newspaper, and I was, but I was also reading a history of the African-American community of Chicago, of the civil rights movement from Booker T. Washington to Barack Obama and of the Great Migration. Yet The Defender was an important part of all that history for a long time and Michaeli tells it well. Booker T Washington, Marcus Garvey, WEB Dubois, A. Philip Randolph, Ralph Bunch, Rev. Martin Luther show more King Jr and Jesse Jackson all appeared in the pages to The Defender, as did Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson and many more figures whose names are familiar, but I particularly liked the stories of the men and women who worked for the paper as reporters, editors, columnists and more. That story starts with founder Robert Abbott who came to Chicago from the rural South. This is a family saga as well as a saga of the struggle for freedom and equality by African-Americans. I was sorry to come to the end, but The Defender continues today as an online newspaper. show less

Essentially a travelogue of the author's trips to Israel from 2014-2018. Instead of hitting the tourist sites, he instead documents his visits with friends, family, and assorted characters in attempt to document the various factions that comprise modern Israeli society. These are the types of conversations and encounters that anyone who's lived in Israel or spent more than a couple of weeks on a packaged tour has experienced, but he does a good job of consolidating the experiences into an show more accessible and engaging format.

Audiobook: The narrator should not have been let anywhere near this text. He manages to mangle, butcher, mutilate, and desecrate just about every Hebrew and Arabic name, place, and word. Shame on him for not bothering to spend even 5 minutes to learn even the most rudimentary principles of the languages, and shame on the publisher for not spending even 5 minutes to review and edit. show less

As Ethan Michaeli writes in his last paragraph: “The Defender allowed me to see the truth about America, that “race” is a pernicious lie that permeates our laws and customs, revived in each generation by entrenched interests that threaten to undermine the entire national enterprise, just as it is challenged in each generation by a courageous few who believe that this can truly become a bastion of justice and equality.”

A must-read book about the history of civil rights for show more African-Americans in the U.S., starting with Frederick Douglass’ address at the World’s Columbian Exposition. Michaeli writes this history from the perspective of the successful black-owned and managed newspaper, The Defender, founded in 1905 by Robert Abbott and passed along to John Sengstacke. The book tracks the Great Migration as Southern blacks flocked north to avoid persecution and find opportunities in Chicago, especially during WWI when immigration came to a halt, requiring people to work in factories. The book also follows the topsy-turvy political climate in Chicago, including the profound role played by the Southside in making its votes highly sought as black population growth and white flight provided real political power. Important issues segregation vs. desegregation in schools, neighborhoods, sports, military service are treated evenly. The Bud Billiken parade, created for newspaper carriers and sponsored by The Defender became an important event for the city, socially and politically, attracting famous actors, singers, sportsmen. The sad decline of this publication into obscurity and bankruptcy is chronicled too. Long but very rewarding. show less