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Long Memory: The Black Experience in America
A survey of Afro-American history is organized around the themes of the family and church, sex and racism, politics, education, criminal justice, and Black nationalism
512 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1982
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August 5, 2015
This book took me through every emotion on the spectrum. Some things will make you happy to learn. Much of what you learn from the book will make you sad, but it's all good information to know. It covers what African-Americans & their ancestors have done from just before the Transatlantic slave trade up through the black power movements of the 60's & 70's.
It was enjoyable to learn about what parts of their cultures they were able to keep & incorporate in songs, fables & various forms of art despite attempt by slave masters to tear everything away from them. The history of free black people & mixed people before the Civil War paint an interesting picture that not too much conventional history talks about. The role the Black Church has played throughout history is touched on as well. There is a chapter dedicated to how sex & gender intersected with racism to cause unique problems for black women to face & how black men & women death with that in regards to how it affected their family & relationships.
Several chapters deal with black people's roles in politics which includes black people before the Revolutionary War up through the Civil War, reconstruction & beyond. These chapters deal with roles in politics, economics of their communities & their roles & obstacles in dealing with the "justice" system whether they were working in it or dealing with obstacles from the outside as victims to it's corruption or neglect.
The chapter on education & educational institutions was very interesting & disheartening. Learning how despite creating our own institutions, how little control we had from the top down in many of them or the counties & legislatures controlling them, was heartbreaking & showed how white people made sure black people could only go so far & only go as far in the direction that white people deemed appropriate.
The last few chapters describe where a certain level of status via serving in armed forces or working certain jobs finally caught up to pride & frustration that is made to seem as if it was new but was really there all along. Especially given the paradox of fighting in wars for the interests of a country that didn't respect them, people finally took more notice of their gripes & black people fought back even more. They were met with considerable resistance & violence but more attention was given to the fact that they would fight back.
The last two chapters are about continuing the fight for rights as workers, where they & poor whites were used as pawns against each other, the lower class white workers taking that bait of racist beliefs & the rise black nationalism. Unions & labor strikes are discussed & despite being willing to make, often uneasy, alliances with poor white workers, blacks were faced with the choices of no work at all or work for undesirable wages to support their families. Even when alliances were formed, often whites didn't want black people to gain too much too soon or would impede some progress just out of outright jealousy. The limitations of these alliances were clear & the frustration that they produced along with leaders being struck down despite advocating for change in a peaceful manner helped make black nationalist & black power groups even more desirable.
This book is filled with much information on the history of black people. Much of which may be obscured in more mainstream historical accounts or simply not mentioned. It's a little over 400 pages & well worth the read. There is so much to gain from reading it despite the range of emotions it may take you through.
It was enjoyable to learn about what parts of their cultures they were able to keep & incorporate in songs, fables & various forms of art despite attempt by slave masters to tear everything away from them. The history of free black people & mixed people before the Civil War paint an interesting picture that not too much conventional history talks about. The role the Black Church has played throughout history is touched on as well. There is a chapter dedicated to how sex & gender intersected with racism to cause unique problems for black women to face & how black men & women death with that in regards to how it affected their family & relationships.
Several chapters deal with black people's roles in politics which includes black people before the Revolutionary War up through the Civil War, reconstruction & beyond. These chapters deal with roles in politics, economics of their communities & their roles & obstacles in dealing with the "justice" system whether they were working in it or dealing with obstacles from the outside as victims to it's corruption or neglect.
The chapter on education & educational institutions was very interesting & disheartening. Learning how despite creating our own institutions, how little control we had from the top down in many of them or the counties & legislatures controlling them, was heartbreaking & showed how white people made sure black people could only go so far & only go as far in the direction that white people deemed appropriate.
The last few chapters describe where a certain level of status via serving in armed forces or working certain jobs finally caught up to pride & frustration that is made to seem as if it was new but was really there all along. Especially given the paradox of fighting in wars for the interests of a country that didn't respect them, people finally took more notice of their gripes & black people fought back even more. They were met with considerable resistance & violence but more attention was given to the fact that they would fight back.
The last two chapters are about continuing the fight for rights as workers, where they & poor whites were used as pawns against each other, the lower class white workers taking that bait of racist beliefs & the rise black nationalism. Unions & labor strikes are discussed & despite being willing to make, often uneasy, alliances with poor white workers, blacks were faced with the choices of no work at all or work for undesirable wages to support their families. Even when alliances were formed, often whites didn't want black people to gain too much too soon or would impede some progress just out of outright jealousy. The limitations of these alliances were clear & the frustration that they produced along with leaders being struck down despite advocating for change in a peaceful manner helped make black nationalist & black power groups even more desirable.
This book is filled with much information on the history of black people. Much of which may be obscured in more mainstream historical accounts or simply not mentioned. It's a little over 400 pages & well worth the read. There is so much to gain from reading it despite the range of emotions it may take you through.
Displaying 1 of 1 review