Customer Reviews

The African American Experience: Black History and Culture Through Speeches, Letters, Editorials, Poems, Songs, and Stories

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This is the sort of book that one is likely to reach for many times over many years. Across more than 700 pages it presents an emotional and powerful journey through the story of the Africans were brought to America as slaves. It begins with 16th century accounts of Africans being described as ideal for the labor needs of the New World. There are documents related to the slaves who were delivered to Jamestown, and fascinating laws detailing the treatment of slaves how their children are to be classified ("according to the condition of the mother"). The lyrics of the song "Strange Fruit" are no less moving when read as when heard. The book's last entry is President Barack Obama's 2008 speech about race.

The power of this book is in the first-hand accounts and documents it lays out in convenient fashion. It's a terrible cliché, but "The African American Experience" really is a difficult book to put down once you begin browsing through it. There is so much drama, emotion, and important history that one is likely to feel connected in a new way to the despair and struggle across all those centuries.

The original Africans brought to America and their descendants suffered far more severely than most people know. Yes, 19th century slavery in America is well known and many know something about the horrors of the Middle Passage but there is so much more. This book is the perfect foundation for gaining a broad perspective on an important story. The information is as varied as it is interesting. There are songs, poems, letters, stories, interview transcripts with former slaves, speeches, and more.

"The African American Experience" is a goldmine for anyone with an interest in general history or in the specific story of the Africans who were forced into cruel and inhumane conditions in a foreign land but as a people found the strength to endure.


--Guy P. Harrison, author of

Race and Reality: What Everyone Should Know About Our Biological Diversity





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