A Couple of Links for You

Not much to add to today’s meeting – I got a lot out of the discussion and hope you did, too. So I’ll just use this post to share a couple of links that you might find worth following:

In the readings this week, you’ll get a new appreciation for the power of the black press, the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier in particular. We read an issue of the Defender earlier in the course, but if you want more and have online access to the Harvard libraries, there’s an amazing collection available to you here. They have searchable (!) full text of the Courier from 1911-2002 and the Defender from 1905-1975 as well as papers dating back to 1827.

Speaking of the Defender, Jeff pointed out to me a couple of weeks ago that they are in grave danger of going under. It’s not a great time to be running a newspaper. Here is the Sun-Times clip Jeff sent, and here is the Defender’s website, still very much alive.

Finally, Ros, our resident historian of all things Detroit, recommends this show from the Smithsonian Channel, entitled, Phil Collins: Going Back to Detroit, in which Mr. Collins attempts (as the blurb has it) “to recreate the magic of the Original Motown Sound.” There are interviews with (and participation by!) some of the original musicians, and a lot of historical footage as well. For those of you who might want to take a small bite before swallowing the whole forty-five minute show, I’m posting a brief excerpt below. Please enjoy! and I’ll see you all next week.