Chicago Defender News Literacy Program Lesson 6: The Jones Brothers (Chicago’s Notorious Policy Kings)

CNL News Lesson

May 16, 2016 Added by Myiti Sengstake

Lesson Outline

Note:  Parts of this lesson may require a subscription to an online database of historial newspapers, including the Chicago Defender. Your local library, such as the Chicago Public Library may offer online access to these articles with the use of your library card number.

Written by:  

Myiti Sengstacke, African American Studies Instructor
City Colleges of Chicago, Kennedy-King College

Michelle R. Yisrael, Reading, English & Literature
City Colleges of Chicago, Kennedy-King College

Purpose:  

To analyze the news and to discover how the Chicago Defender  created celebrity status for the Jones Brothers.

Essential Question:  

How did the Chicago Defender  manipulate the news and create celebrity status for the Jones Brothers?  

Objective:  

Students will be able to…

  • Analyze The Chicago Defender for information of some public interest that is shared and subject to a journalistic process of verification, and for which an independent individual or organization is directly accountable. Those three attributes are represented in the acronym VIA, and all must be present to classify information as journalism.
  • Evaluate The Chicago Defender to who is a journalist? Is “citizen journalism” really journalism? In a world where news consumers are also news producers, VIA becomes a litmus test.
  • Discover  “Know your neighborhood”.  Analyze The Chicago Defender for  the keys to determining if information is reliable is being able to identify what it is: journalism, advertising, publicity, propaganda, entertainment,  Infotainment, or raw information.
  • Compare and contrast the blurring of the lines between these information neighborhoods is one of the biggest challenges facing news consumers, using The Chicago Defender.
  • Understand, summarize,  and describe  why advertising, promotion and propaganda pose as journalism. The tactic isn't new, but economic pressures are fueling the rise of “native advertising.”  Compare and contrast The Chicago Defender advertisement and promotion to other news sources.

News Literacy terms to be incorporated:

  • Alerts
  • Diverts
  • Connects
  • Advertising
  • Publicity
  • Propaganda
  • Entertainment

Introducing the Lesson:

Three brothers, Edward, George, and Mack began running numbers out the the back door of their tailor shop on 47th Street.  The store called, the Jones Brothers Ben Franklin Store located on the southside of Chicago was one of the first Black owned department stores and held in high esteem.  The first policy station helped the Jones Brothers live a lavish and glamous lifestyle that could not be separated from the illegal activity, inclusing alleged kidnapings, participation in corrupt politics, violence and death threats. The Jones’ brothers used their earnings  to help other Blacks start businesses, they were large contributors to Provident Hospital, as well as schools and education.   In 1946, this policy station was worth over twenty-five million dollars.  

Discussion Questions:

  • How did the defender assist the Jones Brothers with the popularity of their numbers business?
  • Examine the Jones’ Brothers reputation in the neighborhood in which they operated and the Chicago criminal justice system?
  • How did the numbers game make fortunes for underworld bosses and help shape Chicago's fabled Democratic machine?
  • How did the policy game effect Chicago politics?
  • Analyze the Jones’ brothers policy business before mobsters in Chicago involved themselves in it?
  • What positive effects did the Jones Brothers have on residents in the city?
  • Compare and contrast the policy game before and after mobster involvement.  

Historical Link & Whole Group Discussion:  

DEFENDER ARTICLES

  • JONES BROTHERS GET $850,000 FROM U.S.: FIRST PHASE OF CASE ENDS IN COMPROMISE Edward Must Now Plead Guilty When Trial Is Opened Special. -- The Chicago Defender (National edition) (1921-1967) [Chicago, Ill] 16 Nov 1940: 1.
  • JONES BROTHERS OFFER U.S. $500,000 COMPROMISE: ED DICKERS TO 'TAKE RAP' FOR 'MACK,' GEORGE Oldest Brother Faces Five Years In Prison And Heavy Cash Fine -- The Chicago Defender (National edition) (1921-1967) [Chicago, Ill] 01 June 1940: 1.
  • How Roe Moved In On The Fabulous Jones Brothers: Gamblers Reached Top On Deal Made With Al Capone -- Brown, Henry. The Chicago Defender (National edition) (1921-1967) [Chicago, Ill] 30 Aug 1952: 1.
  • The Ed Jones Story: Rise And Fall Of A Policy King: Rise And Fall Of A Policy King PART III -- Chicago Daily Defender (Daily Edition) (1960-1973) [Chicago, Ill] 07 Jan 1965: 1
  • 30,000 CHEER JOE LOUIS AT STORE OPENING: Jones Brothers Praised By Chicagoans On New Venture VIEWS OF NEW JONES BROS. DEPARTMENT STORE Jones Brothers Store In Gala Opening Champion Joe Louis Heads Notables At Gala Store' Opening Ceremony -- The Chicago Defender (National edition) (1921-1967) [Chicago, Ill] 31 July 1937: 1.

Videos to link the lesson:

Assignments

Write an Essay: (Choose one topic for your essay)

  • How did the policy game effect Chicago politics?
  • Analyze the Jones’ brothers policy business before mobsters in Chicago involved themselves in it?
  • What positive effects did the Jones Brothers have on residents in the city?

Peer Review & Collaboration:

  • How did the numbers game make fortunes for underworld bosses and help shape Chicago's famed Democratic machine?

Oral presentation:

  • Present your small group’s findings to the whole group.