February 22, 2017 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION Page 3
Black History
By Stacy M. Brown
NNPA Newswire Contributor
I
n her book, “Hidden Figures,” author
Margot Lee Shetterly pays homage
to the African American women
who worked as human computers in
the space program.
It’s a book that’s spawned an Acade-
my Award-nominated movie and has
brought to the fore the accomplish-
ments of Katherine Johnson, Doro-
thy Vaughan and Mary Jackson, the
brilliant Black women who worked
at NASA serving as the brains behind
America’s nascent space program
starting in the 1950s.
Inside the book, Shetterly also pays
homage to where she first got the no-
tion to write such a historical master-
piece.
“In the first week of May 1942, the
‘Norfolk Journal and Guide’ published
an article that would…be like a signpost
for the road not taken,” Shetterly said.
She even recalled the headline that
“
Laboratory, graduates of Engineering
for Women, a war training class.
“‘The Journal and Guide’ and the
‘Pittsburgh Courier,’ two of the grand-
daddies of the Black Press, are men-
tioned prominently inside the hard
cover copies of the book with a picture
that dates back to the 1940s,” said Bren-
da Andrews, president, publisher and
owner of “The New Journal and Guide.”
The Journal and Guide published
its first issues in 1900 and, during
the World War II, by many accounts,
was the largest Black employer in the
South, according to Andrews.
Its circulation topped 100,000 and
Andrews said the newspaper joined
others like the “Chicago Defender,” the
“Baltimore Afro-American” and the
“Pittsburgh Courier” in taking the lead
in writing about Black interests and re-
cording African American history.
“We were hidden figures ourselves
until about the 1960s,” Andrews said of
the Black Press in America, which this
year celebrates 190 years in operation.
ERNEST LOWERY/NEW JOURNAL AND GUIDE
The Black Press Played Vital Role in ‘Hidden Figures’
“Hidden Figures” author Margot Lee Shetterly (left) poses for a photo with New Journal and Guide publisher
Brenda Andrews
ows in our community, doing the work,
recording information.”
Andrews said the Black Press
wasn’t formerly recognized for its
great journalism, seen mostly as
underground activists.
“Even today, we’re not proper-
ly recognized for recording that
history. We were hidden in Black
areas among Black people,” she said.
“It came about that World War II was
significant, because it was our activism
that stories of segregated troops were
told.”
During World War II, the Black Press
led the call for a “Double V” victory
against fascism abroad and against Jim
This story and how the author researched ‘Hid-
den Figures’ is an example of what the Black Press
has been doing, which is recording Black history
accompanied the piece in one of the na-
tion’s oldest African American-owned
newspapers.
“Paving the Way for Women Engi-
neers,” the headline blared.
An accompanying photo revealed 11
immaculately dressed Black women
in front of Hampton Institute’s Bemis
“This story and how the author re-
searched ‘Hidden Figures’ is an exam-
ple of what the Black Press has been do-
ing, which is recording Black history.”
Andrews continued: “When I speak
with people, even today in the 21st
century, people are curious about the
Black Press’ role. We were in the shad-
Crow in the United States.
Reportedly, with such a slogan, many
historians regarded this campaign as
the groundwork for the Black activ-
ism that characterized the Civil Rights
Movement.
Black newspapers, led by the “Nor-
folk Journal and Guide,” the “Chicago
Defender,” the “Pittsburgh Courier”
and the “AFRO,” took a conservative ef-
fort and channeled Black militancy into
nationalistic ends. They sought gov-
ernment concessions and they looked
to create a homogenous American
identity that included Black citizens to
resolve struggles for full citizenship,
freedom, and racial justice.