Black Livingstone: A True Tale of Adventure in the Nineteenth-Century Congo

by Pagan Kennedy

A compelling account of William Henry Sheppard, an African-American missionary who traveled to the Belgian Congo in 1890 and became known as "Black Livingstone" due to his many lectures across the country detailing his adventures, reveals how he found the power to fight the persecution of Africans in the Congo, but not in his own country. Reprint.

Genres: Africa, History, Nonfiction, Central Africa, Biography, Religion, Travel

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Pagan Kennedy is a regular contributor to the New York Times and author of eleven books. A biography titled Black Livingstone made the NewYork Times Notable list and earned Massachusetts Book Award honors. She also has been the recipient of a Barnes and Noble Discover Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a Smithsonian Fellowship for science writing. Visit her online at www.pagankennedy.net.

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Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story of William Sheppard, an African-American Presbyterian missionary in the Congo who was the first to expose the atrocities being committed by the Belgian King Leopold in the Congo Free State. I have read criticisms of this book elsewhere that take Kennedy to task for speculating too much on Sheppard's views and state of mind, etc, supposedly rather than researching. I think these criticisms are bogus; I didn't have that problem with it at all, and I tend to be pretty irritated at poorly-researched accounts. There's a boatload of references that will serve me well in future readings about the Congo, and I do believe Kennedy got well into the material available; as far as I am concerned, the historiography is sound. Less importantly, but significantly, at times Kennedy is a magnificent stylist.

A wonderful account of the pleasures and terrors of history, and stirringly told.

[Hannah of the Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

An account of the 1800s missionary William Shepherd. DR Congo. Excellent picture of the historical time, pulling in multiple primary sources. I learned so much about this remarkable man.

However the author makes a lot of speculations and guesses into Sheppard's internal life and motivations. The book has a cynical attitude towards religion, and seriously downplays Sheppard's faith - which seems unfair in telling the story of a man who devoted himself to Christian work. His struggles with adultery are made more disturbing by the casual and even humorous way she discusses them. I do appreciate however that she shows a multidimensional picture of Sheppard and does not hide his faults (especially his neglect of his wife), even while extolling his positive traits.

I encourage readers to compare this book with Sheppard's own account, which can be found for free at the online archives website (https://archive.org/details/presbyter...). His work is both sparser and more difficult to read but includes more references to his Christian work (mentioning his own prayers for guidance and protection, evening devotions and church services...even if he does spend more words telling about hippo hunts). Reading through his own work, I was struck by the respectful way he talks about the African cultures he encounters - so different than other contemporary accounts! - and for his ethnographic attention to detail.

Overall, I enjoyed learning more about this remarkable man who pioneered in difficult work through tremendous obstacles, who had insane people skills and cross-cultural adaptability, who endured prejudice and mistreatment with great patience, and who worked for the good of the people around him.

[Gail Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting account of black missionary (highly unusual for a black to be in this position) in Africa. His success was marred by his relationships with pagan kings and societies. Interesting read.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good biography;I wavered between three and four stars. My reason for the lower rating is twofold. First, I was irritated by the author's dismissive tone concerning Sheppard's religious beliefs. At one point fairly early in the book, she describes Sheppard hunting to help feed people and comments that he seemed to see feeding people as more important than "filling their minds with Bible verses" as if that was the typical missionary's goal. My other problem was the lack of real historical depth. The author makes claims about Southern Presbyterians and also about other historical figures in the Congo and in England that I would have liked to see more fully explored. I thought the end notes clearly suggested a lack of deep historical scholarship. All in all, however, this is a good introduction to an amazing person and time, if the reader maintains awareness of the book's limitations.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting and easy to read. I love reading about explorers, missionaries, eccentrics, and underdogs. The political history of the Congo and the Congolese is heartbreaking. BUT….the evidence and historical record is just not there to support all of the author’s assertions, speculations, and musings. Kennedy articulates Sheppard’s possible thoughts, interprets many of his actions, and uses the word ‘might’ often. While her guesses may well be true, they are still guesses. Perhaps she should have written a novel based upon Sheppard’s life. It would have made a nice companion piece for Kingsolver’s Poisonwood Bible.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Black Livingstone was a follow-on for me to The Poisonwood Bible. I guess I just wanted to know more about the Congo, particularly the early colonization years. Although the book was good, and certainly educated me about Shepard and his white colleagues, I often felt like the author was grasping for solid evidence to illustrate her points. I am glad his history has been documented, its just unfortunate we don't know more about his family - in particular his wife Lucy who must have been an amazing women!

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given To Me For An Honest Review

This book really did not have information with documentation to prove all that was presented. It was interesting but not what I thought it would be. I felt that more could have been done in showing the proof rather than possible, maybe, could be. It read well but was a bit of a disappointment to me. I enjoyed reading it and I do recommend it to others.

[Marianne Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a read! This story was fascinating, terrifying, sickening, and thrilling. It left my heart searching for all the missionary dollars I have donated through the years. My soul is scolded by the “Providence of God” superiority and the Jim Crow attitude that traveled the world for generations. This is important history.

[Matthew Turnbull · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eye opening account of missionary life in Congo under Belgian rule.....

[Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Free from the library.
Short on details, but you're warned of this from the beginning, though it's a shame because it is a fascinating story.
Easy to read, moves along nicely.