Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It [Paperback]

Herb Boyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2000

Autobiography of a People is an insightfully assembled anthology of eyewitness accounts that traces the history of the African American experience.  From the Middle Passage to the Million Man March, editor Herb Boyd has culled a diverse range of voices, both famous and ordinary, to creat a unique and compelling historical portrait:

Benjamin Banneker on Thomas Jefferson
Old Elizabeth on spreading the Word
Frederick Douglass on life in the North
W.E.B. Du Bois on the Talented Tenth
Matthew Henson on reaching the North Pole
Harriot Jacobs on running away
James Cameron on escaping a mob lyniching
Alvin Ailey on the world of dance
Langston Hughes on the Harlem Renaissance
Curtis Morriw on the Korean War
Max ROach on "jazz" as a four-letter word
LL Cool J on rap
Mary Church Terrell on the Chicago World's Fair
Rev. Bernice King on the future of Black America

And many others.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Herb Boyd is one of the most accomplished African American journalists on the scene--and also a gifted anthologist, as evidenced by his award-winning collection Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America. His new reader, Autobiography of a People, is a potpourri of Afro-American voices spanning three centuries--a soulful choir singing of joy, sorrow, freedom, and victory. "The story of African people is a glorious one," Boyd writes, "replete with a pantheon of mighty voices and courageous souls who in their combined strength have overcome inestimable odds and carved a special niche in the gallery of world culture." From the 18th century, we read the slave narratives of Olaudah Equiano, the pristine poetry of Phillis Wheatley, and scientific writings of astronomer Benjamin Banneker. The power of Frederick Douglass, Nat Turner, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth called forth the fires of freedom one century later. And, as the book heads into the 20th century, we revisit the wisdom of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, the homeland strivings of Marcus Garvey, and modern life-and-death lessons bequeathed to us by Mumia Abu-Jamal. From Marian Anderson to Malcolm X, Boyd highlights the diversity and dynamism of African American people and the benefits of all who are touched by their stories. --Eugene Holley Jr. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Boyd, journalist and coeditor of the award winning Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America, has produced an original and triumphant collection of first-person narratives from autobiographies, memoirs, journal writings, correspondence, and slave narratives. Remarkable in its inclusiveness, the book is arranged both chronologically and thematically. An essay preceding each section provides highlights of the coming entries, historical significance, and context. The 118 entries--ranging from notorious historical figures, political prisoners, pop icons, activists, athletes, artists, feminists, soldiers, and everyday folks--collectively document the evolution of black struggle and achievement in America. One can't help but be moved by these literary and historical sources. Frustratingly, while the number of selections makes for an impressive and eclectic chorus, it also insures that most entries remain short, leaving one wanting more. For public and academic libraries.
-Sherri Barnes, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Anchor; Reprint edition (December 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385492790
• ISBN-13: 978-0385492799
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Herb Boyd is a journalist, activist, teacher, and has authored or edited 22 books, including his most recent one, Civil Rights: Yesterday & Today. His book Baldwin's Harlem, a biography of James Baldwin, was a finalist for a 2009 NAACP Image Award. In 1995, with Robert Allen, he was a recipient of an American Book Award for Brotherman--The Odyssey of Black Men in America, an anthology. We Shall Overcome, a media-fusion book with narration by the late Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, is used in classrooms all over the world, as is his Autobiography of a People and The Harlem Reader. His articles can be found in such publications as The Black Scholar, The Final Call, the Amsterdam News, Cineaste, Downbeat, and The Network Journal, among others.
Among the highlights of his remarkable journalistic career was an invitation to fly on Air Force One with President Obama, whom he has interviewed on several occasions.
Over the last decade or so, Boyd has scripted several documentaries, including several with Keith Beauchamp on cold cases of martyrs from the civil rights era that were shown on Biography Channel and TV One. With filmmaker Eddie Harris, he was the writer on three documentaries--Trek to the Holy Land, Cri de Coeur (Cry from the Heart), and Slap the Donkey, that tracks the Rev. Al Sharpton's presidential bid in 2004. The latter film was recently selected to be screened at the Montreal Film Festival in 2010. Boyd is also a frequent guest on national television and radio shows, as well as a keynote speaker at many functions sponsored by noted community and college organizations, where his commentaries on African American culture and politics have earned him an increasingly large audience and popularity. For more than forty years, he has taught at institutions of higher learning. Currently, he teaches at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx and at City College New York, and is also a national and international correspondent for Free Speech TV.org, a media company that specializes in Internet television.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography of aPeople:Three Centuries OfAfrican AmericanH, February 12, 2000

By 

Cleophus Roseboro (Detroit,Michigan USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It (Hardcover)

This book is an anthology edited by Herb Boyd.It contains compelling material that is written by various authors who tell of the African American experience as they witnessed it.The book should be read by all those who would like to know what has occurred in the collective experience of the only Americans who were brought to this country against their will and treated as chattel. It may surprise many to learn that the African American community is not monolithic.The various voices selected by Mr.Boyd attest to this notion in the telling of the story.Again,this book is one that should be read by everyone who needs or wants to know of the tragedies and triumphs of a proud and glorious people and their multiple experiences in America.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Primer in Black Thought in America, April 3, 2000

By 

Lloyd Williams "Kam Williams" (Princeton, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It (Hardcover)

Do you ever wonder how black people living as slaves described life in America? Herb Boyd, author and journalist, has been a professor of black studies for thirty years. Thus, he is uniquely qualified to distill from the reams of black thought that which might best stand as a fitting testament to African Americana. Editor Boyd has deftly woven the dark backstory to the glamorized myth on which the American Dream rests. The author establishes that blacks in America have never been that content underclass by and large depicted in this country's history books. He disputes the notion, central to American history, that Africans brought to America were docile, uncivilized, unintelligent and, thus, deserving of their lot. Culling from the words of those who did dare to speak out (often with disastrous consequences), Boyd has woven an eloquent, emotional tapestry of the black experience. Its power derives not from any self-conscious rage, but from the simplicity, the unguarded frankness of the voices. This is a timely book, sorely needed at a critical moment in this nation's history.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A COLLECTION OF REALITIES, February 18, 2000

By 

Curtis J. Kojo Morrow - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It (Hardcover)

Twice I attempted to write this review of Herb Boyd's AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEOPLE, with it's" three centuries of African American history told by those who lived it"

but soon realized I should finish reading it first. His collections (of excerpt) is so powerful so revealing; and each one seem to flow into the next. like a chronological change of events.

I can see how it may be differcult for some to believe (and easier to deny) the suffering and sacrificing our ancestors endured, to make possible the freedom and well being we now enjoy. Surely it'll instill pride in we Americans of African descent and Americans of goodwill..

Myself, more so being the fact that I too, made a contribution. An excerpt was selected from my Korean war memoir, WHAT'S A COMMIE EVER DONE TO PEOPLE? (Publishes by McFarland Publishers Inc.). Sure, at the time, I was politically ignorant to the reasons I was there fighting, like many others black soldiers, then we were fighting for our lives, the fight for our freedom, we who survived, was to come on our return t o America.

Hopefully, my story, alone with the many others that appears in AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEOPLE will help enlighten other 17 & 18 year old American-American to the reality, that the freedom we now enjoy, others fought and died for it.

PS; In "AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A PEOPLE" includes my favorite hero, the adventurous, explorer, scientist and author, Mr. Matthew Henson, who's life story inspired me to be an adventurer.. DARK COMPANION. It was the first book I read. I was nine years old.

Again, My Sincere Thanks to you Brother; Herb Boyd your book is a magnificent collection of excerpts. And no doubt it'll serve as an inspiration to many.

Peace & Pleasant Writing Curtis J. Morrow