John B. Russwurm

          “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us.” Those were the words stated on the front page of Freedom’s Journal, the first African-American owned and published newspaper in the United States. Created by Reverend Samuel E. Cornish in 1827, Freedom’s Journal was a publication containing not only national and international news but also an outlet for the opposition of slavery and other racial injustices occurring in the United States.

According to American Journalists, Cornish raised the funds to hire John B. Russwurm as the paper’s co-editor. Russwurm was the son of a slave mother and a white American merchant father and was one of the first African-American college graduates. As recent graduate of Bowdoin College in Maine, Russwurm became the co-editor of the Journal, which worked to offset the racist remarks in the mainstream media. The paper fell apart over disagreements about the colonization of blacks in Africa between Cornish and Russwurm. These arguments prompted Cornish’s resignation and Russwurm became the full editor of the Journal until 1829.

Russwurm then moved to Liberia and became the superintendent of education, while editing the Liberia Herald, according to PBS. Cornish took back control of Freedom’s Journal and changed its name to Right’s of All, which was published for six more months before folding. While the newspaper was only in existence for two short years, it spawned a number of other pro-racial equality papers, with over forty black-owned and operated papers in existence by the start of the Civil War, as stated by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

 Freedom’s Journal was an invaluable piece of the civil rights movement, setting the precedent for future African-American publications to provide a strong and fervent voice for the black community through the troubling and challenging years ahead. Both Russwurm and Cornish inspire me to speak my mind and stand up for what I believe in, especially in times of adversity and against popular opinion.