industries of the United States. This book providesreaders with an interdisciplinary overview of the past, present,and future of African Americans in U.S. media and the ongoingproject of gaining racial equality in media: a process which spansgenerations. Catherine Squires introduces the reader to the variedways in which Black Americans have navigated cultural, political,and economic obstacles both to make their own media and to critiquemainstream media. Synthesizing the work of social scientists, historians, culturalcritics, as well as comments from audience members and mediaproducers, African Americans and the Media gives readers alively entry point to classic and contemporary studies of BlackAmericans and mass media. Across the chapters, readers followAfrican Americans’ struggles to harness the power of print,broadcasting, film, and digital media, through five main themeswhich are woven through the book: representation, circulation,innovation, audience and responsibility. Taking in examples asdiverse as Blaxploitation films, the work of 20th Century blackactivist journalists such as Ida B. Wells and A. Philip Randolph,and popular television such as The Cosby Show, this bookwill be essential reading for all students and scholars of mediaand communications and African American studies.

Hide more