The Emancipator (website)

This article is about the 21st-century online newspaper. For the 19th-century newspaper, see The Emancipator (newspaper).

The Emancipator
Founder(s)Ibram X. Kendi and Bina Venkataraman
PublisherHoward University
Editor-in-chiefDeborah D. Douglas
FoundedApril 2022 (2022-04)
HeadquartersBoston, MA
Websitetheemancipator.org

The Emancipator is an online newspaper on topics of racial justice, co-founded by Ibram X. Kendi of Boston University and Bina Venkataraman of The Boston Globe.

History

Ibram X. Kendi and Bina Venkataraman, then with Boston University and The Boston Globe, respectively, met during the 2020 American protests for racial justice and shared a mutual interest in Boston's 19th-century abolitionist newspapers. They discussed William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator and what a contemporary iteration would be like, modeled on Garrison's urgency and anti-gradualist approach to abolition.[1]

In 2021, they began to assemble an online newspaper on the model of CBS's The 19th. They received a budget from their institutions and sought new individual and foundation donors. The name "The Liberator" had already been trademarked by a Christian nonprofit, so Kendi and Venkataraman chose "The Emancipator" based on another 19th-century abolitionist newspaper.[1]

The Emancipator was launched in April 2022, with journalists Deborah D. Douglas and Amber Payne as co-editors-in-chief.[2][3]

The Globe's involvement ended in March 2023.[4] Venkataraman left the Globe at the end of 2022,[5] and Kendi's departure from Boston University was announced in January 2025.[4] The outlet relocated to Howard University in June 2025. At that time Amber Payne also announced she will step down as publisher.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Smith, Ben (March 21, 2021). "He Redefined 'Racist.' Now He's Trying to Build a Newsroom". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  2. ^ Alston, Paris; Siegel, Jeremy (April 29, 2022). "'An urgent moment': Why The Boston Globe and BU resurrected the abolitionist newspaper The Emancipator". Morning Edition. WGBH. Archived from the original on June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Payne, Amber; Douglas, Deborah D. (April 24, 2022). "Editors' Letter: The Return of The Emancipator". BostonGlobe.com. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved June 6, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Damiano, Mike; Burns, Hilary (January 30, 2025). "Ibram X. Kendi to leave Boston University for Howard". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 31, 2025. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  5. ^ "Opinion section at The Washington Post adds new editorial hires". The Washington Post. December 21, 2022. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2025.
  6. ^ Kennedy, Dan (June 27, 2025). "The Emancipator is leaving Boston and following co-founder Ibram X. Kendi to Howard University". Media Nation. Retrieved June 27, 2025.

Further reading

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