Description
Book SynopsisExplores the meaning of celebrity as expressed by black journalists writing against the backdrop of Jim Crow-era segregation. Carrie Teresa argues that these black-centred publications framed celebrities as collective representations of the race who were then used to symbolize the cultural value of artistic expression.
Trade Review"Teresa's book and its valuable research offer another way to examine black culture and society in America."—Dianne Bragg,
American Journalism: A Media History Journal"
Looking at the Stars is a clear and present call, enthusiastically awaiting the response of scholars about how the media has always shaped–and continues to shape–Black public discourse."—Gabriel I. Green,
Communication Booknotes Quarterly“Excellent. . . . Carrie Teresa shows that the black press played an integral role in the development of celebrity journalism and culture. That alone makes the work significant. But the work also should lead to opening a conversation and spurring robust and critical discussion of historical and contemporary issues of celebrity, race, gender, and representation in the media and society.”—Jinx Coleman Broussard, Bart R. Swanson Endowed Memorial Professor and professor of mass communications at Louisiana State University
“
Looking at the Stars is important to media historians and to general readers interested in the history of the African American experience. It will make an important contribution to our understanding of how black newspapers’ coverage of celebrities supported and reinforced African Americans and their quest for civil rights. It is particularly accessible because it builds on some history we already know—about Joe Louis and Jesse Owens—but brings in many other relatively unknown athletes and entertainers, all offered with thought-provoking insights.”—David R. Davies, professor of mass communication and journalism at the University of Southern Mississippi
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Untangling Discourses of Representation in Black Press Celebrity Reporting
2. Early Crossover Black Celebrities and the Onus of Collective Representation
3. Black Celebrities Uplift the Race
4. The Mythologizing of Black Celebrities
5. The Marginalization of Black Female Celebrities as Race Representatives
6. National Heroes, Foreign Villains, and Unhyphenated Americans
7. Journalistic Commemoration and the Construction of a “Felt” Past
8. The Politics of Black Press Celebrity Journalism
Notes
Bibliography
Index
