'Enough
to make a Negro turn Black'
Veteran journalist Lu Palmer reflects
on years of activist
Veteran journalist/activist Lu Palmer, 79,
began his career writing for the Chicago Defender and the Chicago
Daily News, among other  publications.
Known for his advocacy of Black causes, Bro. Lu left the white
press and the Black press and started his own publication. In
1971, he started a radio commentary called "Lu�s
notebook," which eventually led him in 1986 to hosting the
"On Target" talk-show on Black-owned WVON-AM radio in
Chicago. On April 14, Bro. Lu will be celebrated with a retirement
party by the station and community after some 30 years in the news
business. During his career, Bro. Lu has displayed a passion for
his profession and the cause of liberating Black people, a mission
that has been exhilarating and disappointing, he says. Bro. Lu is
known for a phrase he coined, "It�s enough to make a Negro
turn Black" and for leading the effort to elect Chicago�s
first Black mayor, Harold Washington. He recently spoke with Final
Call editor James G. Muhammad.
Final Call News (FCN): When I mentioned your
upcoming retirement party, you said you feel glad and sad. Please
explain.
Lu Palmer (LP): I had considered retiring
before, but I kept on going and going. I am glad in the sense that
I don�t have that responsibility anymore, as much as I enjoyed
it. But, of course, I�m sad because it cuts my relationship to
the people, my direct relationship.
FCN: You are perhaps one of the most noted
Black journalists in the city. Can you recap some of the
highlights of your career and some of the things that really
caused you concern.
LP: When I was with the white press, I was
astonished. I already knew how racist the white press was, but
being in it really let me know the reality. I finally quit because
I couldn�t take it anymore. But it also let me realize the
extraordinary power of the media and the extreme responsibility
we, as Blacks, have in the media. When I was speaking in those
years, I would ask to be introduced as a Black journalist because
my whole career was spent advocating for Black people. And that,
of course, is the very opposite of what we were taught in these
white journalism schools, that you don�t advocate. You are
supposed to be "objective." But it became obvious to me
that if you are going to be a journalist and if you are Black, it
is crucial that you utilize that communication system to advance
the cause of Black people. And that, of course, was what really
resulted in my finally leaving the white press.
FCN: How does a Black journalist, then, fit
into the corporate structure of a Chicago Sun-Times, as an
example, and be Black?
LP: The reality is the Black journalist
does not fit into the white press because if you are a Black
journalist, under my definition, you are faced with an impossible
situation. What I learned is that a Black journalist cannot use
the white man�s communication system to advocate for Black
people. In fact, the mission of the white press is just the
opposite.
What is so sad to me is that the Black press
also just did not live up to its responsibility. And that was the
reason that I finally cut the Black press loose.
FCN: What was your disappointment with the
Black press?
LP: Number one, the Black papers I was part
of did not have an interest in excellence. They were sloppy.
Beyond that, they did not have the ideology and the mission. The
old Black press had a mission; and that mission was to advance the
cause of Black people. Think back to what you know about the Defender
in the early days, the Robert S. Abbot days. Its mission was
advancing the cause of Black people. But unfortunately, perhaps
during the period of the Second World War, the Black press lost
that mission probably because they began to get white corporate
advertisers. I will never forget, I was working at the Defender
when they got the first ad from Marshall Field�s and they put a
news story on the front page that they now have Marshall Field�s
advertising. To me, that is the beginning of the decline of the
Black press in its mission.
You can�t avoid the reality of analyzing this
American system, which is a capitalistic system. Everything is
based on money. And that�s why people close to me have no
problem saying to me that one of my personal problems is one of
the problems of being a Black journalist by my definition. You
close your eyes to the reality of economics as a factor.
And let me quickly say that all Blacks who are
in journalism don�t use that definition of Black journalism. In
fact, in speeches to young aspiring Black journalists, I used to
tell them it�s a major decision to make in terms of whether you
are going to be a Black journalist by my definition or whether you
are going to try to rise in the ranks. You can�t rise in the
ranks by advocating for your people.
FCN: You coined the phrase, "it�s enough
to make a Negro turn Black." Why?
LP: In those days, we were trying to decide
what to call each other�Negroes Blacks�and some of us had
reached the decision that being Black was the militant definition.
And things were happening that I was commenting on in my radio
commentary that were so utterly absurd and so viciously racist
that I was only trying to point it out to my people. I felt that
if white people were going to treat us like this, that is enough
to make you just sit back and think, "I ain�t going to be a
Negro anymore, if a Negro is a Tom. I�m going to be Black and I�m
going to get out here and just fight."
FCN: How do you view the emergence of Black
talk radio?
LP: I think it�s probably one of the
finest vehicles available to us. Somehow we have to find a way to
lure more young Black listeners into Black talk radio. The media
has such an impact on us. And I am convinced that the most
positive impact can come through Black talk radio.
FCN: What about the role of the community in
terms of support�buying Black newspaper and advertising in them?
LP: When I started my own newspaper, I said
that I will not accept white advertising and people said I was
crazy. And I was. I did not get sufficient support from Black
business people to sustain the paper. I think we have an economic
base sufficient to sustain our publications if it is utilized in a
concentrated manner. But even if you�ve got a Black business, if
your head is not straight you want to advertise in [the white
press] and shun our own newspapers and media institutions. It is a
systemic problem. I think we�ve got to go through the process of
training our youth from birth in the whole ideology of liberation.
This is really long range and I know it�s difficult, but we have
got to get a liberation thought in the minds of our youth.
FCN: You were involved in politics quite a bit.
You helped to get [Chicago�s first Black] Mayor Harold
Washington elected. What is your analysis of where Blacks are with
regard to the political process?
LP: Unfortunately, I have lost my fervor
for electoral politics as an answer. This American system is such
that it�s so easy to seduce Black people. Our history has been,
for the most part, as people get into elective office, they cross
the line and go over with the other people.
And that�s probably one of the reasons that
toward the end I didn�t want to stay on the air, because I was
beginning to let that feeling [of disappointment] come through. I
don�t know where there is any hope anymore for my people.
FCN: That should be enough to make a Negro turn
Black. Thank you, Lu Palmer.
(For information on the retirement party
call 773-247-6200.)
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