Voices of Revolution: The Dissident Press in America / Edition 1

by Rodger Streitmatter

Overview

Streitmatter tells the stories of dissident American publications and press movements of the last two centuries, and of the colorful individuals behind them. From publications that fought for the disenfranchised to those that promoted social reform, Voices of Revolution examines the abolitionist and labor press, black power publications of the 1960s, the crusade against the barbarism of lynching, the women's movement, and antiwar journals. Streitmatter also discusses gay and lesbian publications, contemporary on-line journals, and counterculture papers like The Kudzu and The Berkeley Barb that flourished in the 1960s. Voices of Revolution also identifies and discusses some of the distinctive characteristics shared by the genres of the dissident press that rose to prominence—from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century.

For far too long, mainstream journalists and even some media scholars have viewed radical, leftist, or progressive periodicals in America as "rags edited by crackpots." However, many of these dissident presses have shaped the way Americans think about social and political issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231122498
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	08/20/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	340
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.04(h) x 0.72(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Rodger Streitmatter is professor of journalism at American University. His books include Raising Her Voice: African-American Women Journalists, Unspeakable: The Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America, and Mightier than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I. Speaking Up for the Disenfranchised
1. Fighting for the Rights of American Labor
2. Awakening a Nation to the Sins of Slavery
3. Setting a Revolutionary Agenda for Women's Rights
Dissident Voices/Common Threads I
Part II. Struggling to Form a More Perfect Union
4. Promoting "Free Love" in the Victorian Age
5. Crusading against the Barbarism of Lynching
6. Educating America on the Merits of Socialism
7. Following Anarchy toward a New Social Order
Dissident Voices/Common Threads II
Part III. Rising from a Lone Voice to a Mass Movement
8. Propelling Black Americans into the Promised Land
9. Demanding Wider Access to Birth Control Information
Dissident Voices/Common Threads III
Part IV. Changing the World in a Single Generation
10. Opposing America's "Dirty War" in Vietnam
11. Defining a Counterculture of Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll...and Social Justice
12. Standing Tall and Tough against Racial Oppression
13. Creating an Agenda for Gay and Lesbian Rights
14. Liberating the American Woman
Dissident Voices/Common Threads IV
15. Dissidence in a New Millennium
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index

Editorial Reviews

Recommended.

Choice

fascinating and colorful tales of indvidual struggle, social upheavel and journlistic grit...should be applauded for its rigorous contributions

Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism - Tonya Couch

[A] fascinating book.

Booklist

Offers some details likely to please any media buff.

San Francisco Bay Guardian

[A] fascinating book.

Booklist

Streitmatter (Mightier Than the Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History) presents 14 case studies that examine the effect that dissent or alternative periodicals had on American society from 1830 to the present, covering such important movements as labor, abolition, antilynching, birth control, socialism, the Vietnam War, and civil rights for African Americans, women, and gays and lesbians. Most of these publications resulted from the efforts of a dedicated person or small groups of people. Streitmatter ties their life stories to the history of the periodical, presenting brief, well-written biographies of people like William Lloyd Garrison (The Liberator), Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony (The Revolution), Ida Bell Wells (Free Speech), and Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale (Black Panther), among others. Each section closes with an essay highlighting common themes found in the publications, and the entire book closes with a brief discussion of 'zines and the Internet as distributors of dissenting points of view. Though overlapping somewhat with Lauren Kessler's older The Dissident Press: Alternative Journalism in American History (1984), Streitmatter's work also offers coverage of areas like the gay press and birth control publications. Recommended for all public and academic libraries. Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Lib., Parkersburg Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Streitmatter profiles 14 episodes in which dissident publications have not only served their readers well, but in many cases have also been instrumental in shaping US history. They cover speaking up for the disenfranchised, struggling to form a more perfect union, rising from a lone voice to a mass movement, and changing the world in a single generation. The CiP data shows the title . Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews