A HOUSE FOR THE STRUGGLE
THE BLACK PRESS & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN CHICAGO
- UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS PRESS, 2022 -

Buildings once symbolized Chicago's place as the business capital of Black America and a thriving hub for Black media. A House for the Struggle explores these intersecting histories through a bold re-reading of Chicago's Black Press through the lens of the built environment. The buildings that produced publications like Ebony and the Chicago Defender became key landmarks of Black urban life; vital to the narratives of racial uplift, community resistance, and collective struggle that the Black press simultaneously endorsed and embodied. At the same time, factors ranging from discriminatory business practices to the personal preferences of Black media barons prescribed a building's location, use, and appearance, situating them at the crossroads of where aspiration collided with life in one of America's most segregated cities.

PRAISE FOR A HOUSE FOR THE STRUGGLE