The Baltimore Afro American's Pan African Consciousness Agenda, 1915-1941

The Afro American and The Black Press The Baltimore Afro American, one of the leading Black newspapers of the late nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, attempted to forge a reconnection to Africa and other parts of the Diaspora with the aim that African Americans would begin to identify the similarities in their individual and shared experiences with other Africans. These similarities were intended to raise their level of consciousness, as well as to forge a level of Black solidarity for Blacks globally. A sample of the Afro American's Pan African agenda was evident in its coverage of the African Diaspora in three areas, Haiti, Liberia, and Ethiopia between 1915 and 1941. Hence, the primary objective of this paper is to use the case of the Baltimore Afro American and its coverage of global issues that affected Blacks within the United States and in three Diaspora communities, and to examine the relationship and coverage of Pan African issues by the Black press. This paper will also address several relevant questions with regard to the type of Pan African agenda the newspaper advocated (i.e. conservative, moderate, or radical Pan-Africanism) and whether the news coverage is characterized by a theoretical or applied Pan Africanist model. The analysis will borrow from definitions of Pan Africanism that were provided by scholars such as Sylvia M. Jacobs, St. Claire Drake, and Jeremiah I. Dibua. Finally, the paper will propose new criteria for defining Pan Africanism, specifically as it relates to Black newspapers. (1) Historical Background: An Introduction The Black press is perhaps one of the most significant yet underused sources for examining African American views from within the African American community. While primary papers of leading civil rights organizations and prominent African American leaders and church organizations provide important insights into the African American experience, the Black press' contribution has much to add to our understanding of Black thought, and more specifically, Pan African consciousness. Unlike the Black church, the press with its editorials, opinion pieces and letters to the editor, offered a multi layered perspective and an array of voices for the Black community which was not always included in religious rhetoric. The Black press reached a far greater constituency than its circulation figures reflected. Through individuals, families, barbershops, salons, churches, social and civic organizations, Black newspapers circulated the community. The Black press covered the full range of human experiences. From births, marriages and deaths to college graduation and higher achievements in academia, the Black press gave voice to its readers. (2) The Black press, with regards to Africa, provided a forum for debate about Africa's meaning and relevance in Black America. Although the influence of African American leadership on the Black community and the Black press was weighed heavily at times, the Black press sometimes stood boldly against leadership and provided an alternative view for the Black community. For example, during the early part of the twentieth century leaders like Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and Marcus M. Garvey reacted to worldwide activities that affected Blacks in Haiti, Liberia, and Ethiopia. The reactions of these leaders were sometimes supported by the Afro American and other times disregarded as disparate. In the case of DuBois and Garvey's views on Liberia, the Afro American reaction was decidedly different from both leaders. However, the Italian invasion of Ethiopia ignited a stronger reaction from African American leadership as well as the Black press. The main goal of the Press in the twentieth century was to reflect a perspective which centered on its concern for the region and those of the Black community. Front page news coverage was very symbolic in the Black press. For the Afro American newspaper the image of Africa and America appeared on its masthead. …