Punctuation: The surprise weapon of Black writers and journalists in their activism

Using punctuation and capitalisation as a form of protest does not exactly scream radicalism.

But in debates over racial justice, punctuation can carry a lot of weight.

During the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, mainstream news organisations grappled with whether to capitalise the first letter of “black” when referring to Black people. Of course, writing “Black” was already common practice in activist circles. Eventually, The Associated Press, The New York Times, USA Today and many other outlets declared that they, too, would capitalise that first letter.

It turns out the push to capitalise “black” is only the most recent way Black writers and activists have pushed back against entrenched power through ostensibly bland elements of writing.

As I discuss in my recent book, Jim Crow Networks: African American Periodical Cultures, Black activism in the media can take a variety of forms – some more subtle than others.

Seemingly unimportant elements of writing have long been adapted as tools of Black activism. Much like the recent drive to capitalise “black,” activists have deployed punctuation to question the legitimacy of confessions, criticize justifications made for lynchings and highlight the undervaluing of Black expertise and knowledge.

Power of punctuation

Punctuation was developed in the third century BC to visually separate sentences and improve comprehension. But punctuation can do more than clarify. It can extend, contradict and…

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