The influential word... How the press in West Africa and the Caribbean contributed to shaping black political thought

The influential word | A revealing account of black Atlantic political thought in the era of decolonization, revealing how newspapers in West Africa and the Caribbean stimulated debates about imperialism, capitalism, and black freedom. In the 1930s and 1940s, amid a surge in anti-colonial activity throughout the British Empire, dozens of new newspapers were launched in West Africa and the Caribbean. Despite their small staff and limited budgets, these newspapers became influential platforms for expressing black political thought. Drawing on newspapers from Trinidad, Jamaica, Ghana and Nigeria, Leslie James shows how journalism on both sides of the Atlantic fueled anti-colonial and anti-racist movements. Editors of all levels of education, male and female journalists, worker and peasant correspondents, and anonymous contributors expressed harsh criticisms of empire and experimented with different visions of black freedom. But as independence approached, the press transformed to better demonstrate the respect expected of a self-governing people. Considering themselves the "fourth and only estate," the only democratic institution available to the inhabitants of the colonies, the early contributors to the press experimented with the form and function of the newspaper itself. They promoted anti-colonial goals by clipping and republishing articles from a variety of sources, drawing on local styles of speech, and manipulating photographs, comic strips, and advertisements. James shows that this uncontrolled content was a strategic assertion of autonomy in the face of colonial bureaucracy. However, in the 1950s, this scene changed, as the professionalism of the press became an indicator of the colony's ability to govern itself. Influenced by new political models, newspapers either standardized their formats or stopped publishing altogether. By the 1960s, intellectual discussions of racism and colonialism had moved to other types of publications. _The Moving Word_ highlights an extraordinary period in the history of black Atlantic political thought, and vividly illustrates the power of experimental media.