History not thoroughly taught in school.

This book should be mandatory reading in High School.

dnf... based on 14months of research, for inclusion in an Ebony magazine series. I started with the audio, includes claims like "we think XYZ, though other scholars disagree". wtf is that?!? So I track down a paperback copy, ZERO footnotes...

Bennett was editor of “Ebony” magazine among other publications. “Before the Mayflower,” is a sentinel history of African Americans, commencing with their African past, their movement to the Americas, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, the Civil War, the Reconstruction era, Jim Crow, World Wars I and II, the Great Migration of hundreds of thousands of African-Americans north and west, segregation, the great leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. I read the first edition, which ends in 1961, although the book has been updated through the Clinton presidency. Bennett discoveries unknown and previously unnamed African-Americans, bringing their story to light; what we should have learned in US history courses in school, but didn’t. Rich and disquieting, this book brings truth and depth to the struggle and plight of African-Americans while also celebrating their courage and persistence

A must study for every black person!

"To work from sun up to sun down for a whole year and to end owing "the man" $400 for the privilege of working; to do this year after year and to sink deeper and deeper into debt; to be chained to the land by bills at the plantation store; to wash away this knowledge with bad gin, to blot it out in an ecstasy of song and prayer; to sing, to pray, to cry; to bring forth a boy child and to be told one night that four thousand people are roasting him slowly over a hot fire and leisurely cutting off his fingers and toes; to be powerless and to curse one's self for cowardice; to be conditioned by dirt and fear and shame and signs; to become a part of these signs and to feel them in the deepest recess of the spirit; to be knocked down in the streets and whipped for not calling a
shiftless hillbilly "Mister"; to be a plaything of judges and courts and policemen; to be black in a white fire and to believe finally in one's own unworthiness; to be without books and words and pretty pictures; to be without newspapers and radios; to be without understanding, without the rationalizations of psychology and sociology, without Freud and E. Franklin Frazier and Jet; to not know why it is happening; to not know that it had all happened before to white people and that Hitler would do it again; to not know where to go and what to do to stay the whip and the rope and the chain; to give in finally; to bow, to scrape, to grin; and to hate one's self for one's servility and weakness and blackness—all this was a Kafkaian nightmare which continued for days and nights and years."

So goes the life of black people in the United States. One of the most important parts that needs to be learned if we are to ever get rid of the idiotic concept of 'race' and the oppurtunist, both black and white, who use it to keep the populace as a whole, ignorant and at each other's throat while the rich just get richer:

"The American white man and the American Negro are cases in point: three centuries of miscegenation have had a decided impact on both. In an article in the Ohio Journal of Science, Robert P. Stuckert, of the Ohio State University Department of Sociology, estimated that 21 per cent of American whites—one out of every five—have African elements in their background. "Over 28 million white persons," he wrote, "are descendants of persons of African origin. Furthermore, the majority of persons with African ancestry are classified as whites." Wholesale miscegenation has had an even greater impact on the American Negro. More than 27 per cent of a sample of 1551 American Negroes studied by Melville J. Herskovits had some "Indian blood." Even more
remarkable was the number of Negroes with white ancestors: 71.7 per cent. The percentage of mulattoes increases not only with additional Negro-white unions but also with additional "pure Negro"—mulatto unions. In Herskovit's sample, incidentally, only 22 per cent of the American Negroes were of unmixed ancestry. Bantu, Hottentot, Mandingo, Yoruba, Akan, Semite, Hamite, British, Irish, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, Pequot, Marshpee—the American Negro is an extraordinary amalgam of different amalgamations. The end product of 343 years of miscegenation, he is also a constant reminder that nature is color blind."

This book was just very well written. I can't stress that enough. History can be dry and boring but when I good writer gets his hands into it, it can be made a pleasant experience to learn. As was the case here.

American Negro History: what you didn’t learn in public school

Well documented & filled with examples of how the American Negro population contributed in science, technology, medicine and culture in spite of overwhelming obstacles due to hate & racism. This should be a must read for anyone running for public office both local & national.

I boughtat the library book sale along with "The English Patient." If this is half as good as TEP, I'm in for a treat.

worth the time invested. not a nonfiction reader, but i LOVE this book

This history of Black America traces the lives of African Americans from before colonization all the way to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I found much to learn and a few surprises along the way.

The opening chapter focuses on the contributions of Africa and Africans to world culture. I was familiar with much of this, and to be sure, one could argue sometimes about which culture truly was responsible for what particular technological and cultural advances. The point, Bennett seems to be making, is that up until the time of colonization, Africa and Africans were seen as, indeed were, every bit the equal (if not the superior) of other cultures, most especially European. This has a dramatic function insofar as when the later racist arguments arise, they can clearly be seen as attempts to impose power.

One surprising detail in Bennett's account was that of the first enslaved Black people to arrive in the American colonies. Such people were treated like any other indentured servant at the time--that is, after a period of service to pay for passage, the person was released. In essence, then, it seems that early Africans in the Americas were, after a period, free people. I should have known this, but I guess what was surprising was to see how early this happened and how such servants were considered pretty much like any other person. This changed relatively quickly, however. Without European governments to defend them, as poor whites had, and without a knowledge of the surrounding countryside or peoples, imported Africans had many advantages for exploitation by others once imported to the new lands. Laws in the 1660s soon changed such indentured servants imported from Africa into servants for life--chattel slavery came to the fore.

Bennett then traces the culture across familiar American historical events. Some enslaved people thought that the American Revolution should and would apply to them, and they fought alongside the other Patriots. Indeed, the British offer to free such peoples who joined their cause made American commanders relent in their ban against such men serving in the American forces. Unfortunately, southern plantation owners ruled the day when it came time to set up American law, and chattel slavery continued as the new nation took shape, encouraged eventually by new technologies that advantaged even more use of enslaved labor.

I found the chapters on the Reconstruction period, after the Civil War and emancipation, particularly interesting, especially when it came to discussing the imposition of Jim Crow laws. I knew, of course, about the end of Reconstruction and the way that to maintain presidential power Republicans gave in to southern demands for the end of federal oversight. What I didn't know was that there were nearly two decades between that event and the imposition of Jim Crow. To be sure, Black people began losing rights as soon as federal oversight ended, but the imposition of segregation was kind of a gradual process that really only came to the fore around 1900. Of course, once one southern state passed such laws, the others quickly (within a few years) followed. Bennett then turns to Booker T. Washington and then to the civil rights movement, with which I'm more familiar. I look forward most to reading more about the Reconstruction period and early Jim Crow and pre-chattel colonization. The latter moments in history seem to get less coverage, and I'm glad that this Black Panther Reading List includes at least a couple of works on such subjects.

A word about Bennett's writing in and of itself: I like how the author mixes moments of lyrical flourish with his recounting of historical events. This could be easily taken to extremes, but he doesn't overdue it, and it's not something one sees often in historical writing.

Required reading for my African American History class in 1993 but it should be required for all Americans. I still have my marked-up copy from class, whose cover I loved. There's a very helpful timeline after the chapters.

This is a very interesting read directly from the midst of the equal rights movement in 1964. I'm not sure if there are any historical inaccuracies in the book, but it was enlightening and unique in it's approach, specifically because it was written while history was actually taking place. I highly recommend it.