“The News with Community Views”
29
the inclusion of information about black power
organizations in the black press. The existence of this
relationship also indicates that African independence and
black power activists, as well as their constituencies,
were familiar with the content of the Afro-American,
Amsterdam News and Defender as well as other black press
publications. Therefore, the data I gathered from in-depth
interviews supports the theory of black channels’ assertion
that institutions indigenous to the African diaspora
facilitate mutual identification between groups across
national boundaries by framing the information they provide
about black social movements.
The biographies of Messrs. Barner, Booker and Peeks
exemplify how institutions indigenous to the African
diaspora are often staffed by educated professionals who
are among the most well-advantaged members of their
community. Their life histories also demonstrate the
professional heights some African American journalists were
able to reach once segregationist practices eased at
mainstream news outlets. As a child, George Barner moved
to New York City from Virginia with his parents as part of
the second Great Migration of African Americans to northern
urban centers. While attending Columbia University and
City College, he began working as an apprentice under James
Convention