Reclaiming the Black Past: The Use and Misuse of African American History in the 21st Century

by Pero Gaglo Dagbovie

The past and future of Black history

In this information-overloaded twenty-first century, it seems impossible to fully discern or explain how we know about the past. But two things are certain. Whether we are conscious of it or not, we all think historically on a routine basis. And our perceptions of history, including African American history, have not necessarily been shaped by professional historians.

In this wide-reaching and timely book, Pero Gaglo Dagbovie argues that public knowledge and understanding of black history, including its historical icons, has been shaped by institutions and individuals outside academic ivory towers. Drawing on a range of compelling examples, Dagbovie explores how, in the twenty-first century, African American history is regarded, depicted, and juggled by diverse and contesting interpreters—from museum curators to filmmakers, entertainers, politicians, journalists, and bloggers.

Underscoring the ubiquitous nature of African-American history in contemporary American thought and culture, each chapter unpacks how black history has been represented and remembered primarily during the “Age of Obama,” the so-called era of “post-racial” American society. Reclaiming the Black Past is Dagbovie's contribution to expanding how we understand African American history during the new millennium.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, African American, American History, Anti Racist, Cultural Studies

240 pages, Hardcover

Published November 13, 2018

Reviews

[Andrew Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pero Gaglo Dagbovie contributes an accessible look at Black American history from the vantage of the twenty-first century--what he critically refers to as "the Age of Obama." His book rejects a "great (wo)men" approach, privileging instead a panoply of activists and writers across diverse media formats. In doing so this concise work surveys a social and political approach to the way(s) in which histories are written and mis/used via a variety of movements.

Bringing a difficult past through to the present, Reclaiming the Black Past: The Use and Misuse of African American History in the 21st Century re-centers Black history as American history, and the book ends with a (largely positive) critical review of the latest Smithsonian museum to open (in 2016), the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This book centers a rich, contemporary debate around the meaning of Black history in classrooms and congressional and town halls, as well as across the internet.

[Benjamin Felser · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times disjointed, with different analyses simply stacked on top of each other, the chapters on the Obama presidency and depictions of the black past in popular media really stood out to me. It may be the nature of books on historiography but the fixation on what felt like tangents (for example, extensive definitions of what an apology vs a political apology is/are felt repetitive and slow) but I learned a lot about how and why different sections of our culture are forgetting and remembering different part of black history. Generally glad I read the book.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring

[Bill Pugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful and intriguing look at the history of studying and teaching African American History. Concise and plenty of contemporary context to make this a relevant read.