This much-awaited volume uncovers the long-lost pages of the major African multilingual newspaper, Abantu-Batho.Founded in 1912 by African National Congress (ANC) convenor Pixley Seme, with assistance from the Swazi Queen, it was published up until 1931, attracting the cream of African politicians, journalists and poets Mqhayi, Nontsisi Mgqweth, and Grendon. In its pages burning issues of the day were articulated alongside cultural by-ways. The People's Paper - comprising both essays and an anthology - explores the complex movements and individuals that emerged in the almost twenty years of its publication. The essays contribute rich, new material to provide clearer insights into South African politics and intellectual life. The anthology unveils a judicious selection of never-before published columns from the paper spanning every year of its life and drawn from repositories on three continents. Abantu-Batho had a regional and international focus, and by examining all these dynamics across boundaries and disciplines, The People's Paper transcends established historiographical frontiers to fill a lacuna that scholars have long lamented.

Introduction: A Centenary History of Abantu-Batho, the People's PaperPeter LimbChapter 1 'Only the Bolder Spirits': Politics, Racism, Solidarity and War in Abantu-BathoPeter LimbChapter 2 'They Must Go to the Bantu Batho': Economics and Education, Religion and Gender, Love and Leisure in the People's PaperPeter LimbChapter 3 Pixley Seme and Abantu-BathoChris SaundersChapter 4 Queen Labotsibeni and Abantu-BathoSarah MkhonzaChapter 5 'We of Abantu Batho': Robert Grendon's Brief and Controversial EditorshipGrant ChristisonChapter 6 The Swazi Royalty and the Founding of Abantu-Batho in a Regional Context 174Chris LoweChapter 7 Abantu-Batho and the Xhosa Poets 201Jeff OplandChapter 8 African Royalty, Popular History and Abantu-BathoSifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu and Peter LimbChapter 9 'Johannesburg in Flames': The 1918 Shilling CampaignAbantu-Batho and Early African Nationalism in South AfricaPaul LandauChapter 10 Garveyism, Abantu-Batho and the Radicalisation of the African National Congress during the 1920sRobert Trent VinsonChapter 11 An African Newspaper in Central Johannesburg: The Journalistic and Associational Context of Abantu-BathoPeter LimbConclusion Assessing the Decline and Legacy of Abantu-BathoPeter Limb