Explain to the class that, in addition to Black abolitionist activism, efforts to use newspapers to advance the abolitionist cause involved the efforts and advocacy of White writers and publishers such as William Lloyd Garrison, who established The Liberator in 1831. Ask students if they have heard the term “ally” used to describe people in political or social movements? What do students think it means to be an “ally” in these movements? After eliciting some responses, have students engage in a Think-Pair-Share strategy with a classmate to answer the question: 

• What do you think it meant to be a White “ally” in the abolitionist movement?

After student pairs share some of their ideas, tell students they are going to work independently to analyze an excerpt from Garrison’s very first issue of The Liberator in which he defines his newspaper’s mission. First, have students look at an image of the newspaper’s masthead. Then have them read a January 1, 1831, article, “To the Public”. Students should read the article twice, the first time underlining sentences that reflect Garrison’s view on the role of his newspaper in the abolitionist movement, and the second time to answer OPCVL Document Analysis questions, thinking about: origin, purpose, content, values, and limitations. 

After students have completed their OPCVL Document Analysis, lead a discussion in which you review their responses to the questions and ask them to share out and reflect upon some of the sentences that they underlined: 

• How did Garrison view his role in the abolitionist movement? 
• According to Garrison, what role would The Liberator play in the fight for abolition? 
• What role did Garrison think he and other White abolitionists should play in the anti-slavery struggle? 
• What questions do students still have? What was “left out” of Garrison’s article?

Ask students to recall the question from the beginning of the activity: What do you think it meant to be a White “ally” in the abolitionist movement? What role do students think newspapers played in the anti-slavery struggle? How has reading the Garrison article helped them answer these questions?