Broadcasting Freedom: Radio, War, and the Politics of Race, 1938-1948 (The John Hope Franklin Series in African American History and Culture)

Rating:
Summary: This is a stunning work of original scholarship.
Review: Savage brilliantly demonstrates that much of the eventual success of the 60's civil rights struggle can be traced to the insights learned by African American leaders in the 40s as they began to master the presentation of their cause on radio. By shifting the movment's earlier focus on "converting" individuals to developing methods for intervening with the media which reach virtually every citizen, African American leaders were able to introduce a new black voice on the radio, especially programming sponsored by the federal government during WWII. This programming challenged accepted stereotypes of black abilities and placed African American accomplishments at the heart of American history. Using seldom seen archives of radio material and the recollections of surviving participants in this dramatic phenomenon, Savage makes the case that many of the lessons learned during this era served the civil rights movement well. Just as radio became a forum for debates about race in the 40s, so too television functioned in the 50s and 60s. While black leaders could not control either radio or television, they understood from their earlier work with radio how television needed "images" only they could supply. The awareness of the potential power of an "alliance" between African Americans and televion was one of the legacies of the 40s radio programming Savage unearthed.. I have to say that Savage is an especially fluid and engaging writer. A lot of the material would have been a painful slog in a less capable writer's hands. I suspect that this book will become a "core text" on the evolution of the civil rights movement. Personally, I can't wait to see what else Savage tackles.