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Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad
An award-winning author charts the poignant journeys of African Americans abroad as she explores her own transatlantic family odyssey in this powerful global history of traveling while Black
Part historical exploration, part travel memoir, Beyond the Shores reveals poignant histories of a diverse group of African Americans who have left the United States over the course of the past century. Tying these tales together is Dr. Tamara J. Walker's personal account of her family's-and her own-experiences abroad, in France, Brazil, Argentina, Austria, and beyond. Together, the interwoven stories highlight African Americans' complicated relationship to the United States and world at large.
Beyond the Shores is not just about where African Americans stayed or where they ate when they traveled, but about why they left in the first place and how they were treated once they reached their destinations. Drawing on years of research, Walker chronicles their experiences in atmospheric detail, taking readers from well-known capital cities to more unusual destinations like Yangiyol, Uzbekistan and Kabondo, Kenya. She follows Florence Mills, the would-be Josephine Baker of her day, in Paris, and Richard Wright, the author-turned-actor and filmmaker, in Buenos Aires. She relays tender stories of adventurous travelers, including a group of gifted Black crop scientists in the 1930s, a housewife searching for purpose in the 1950s, a Peace Corps volunteer discovering his identity in the 1970s, and her own grandfather who, after losing his eye fighting in World War II and returning to a country that showed no signs of honoring his sacrifice, set out with his wife and children on a circuitous journey that sent them back and forth across the Atlantic.
By sharing the histories of those who escaped the racism of the United States to try their hands at life abroad, Beyond the Shores shines a light on the meaning of home and the search for a better life.
Part historical exploration, part travel memoir, Beyond the Shores reveals poignant histories of a diverse group of African Americans who have left the United States over the course of the past century. Tying these tales together is Dr. Tamara J. Walker's personal account of her family's-and her own-experiences abroad, in France, Brazil, Argentina, Austria, and beyond. Together, the interwoven stories highlight African Americans' complicated relationship to the United States and world at large.
Beyond the Shores is not just about where African Americans stayed or where they ate when they traveled, but about why they left in the first place and how they were treated once they reached their destinations. Drawing on years of research, Walker chronicles their experiences in atmospheric detail, taking readers from well-known capital cities to more unusual destinations like Yangiyol, Uzbekistan and Kabondo, Kenya. She follows Florence Mills, the would-be Josephine Baker of her day, in Paris, and Richard Wright, the author-turned-actor and filmmaker, in Buenos Aires. She relays tender stories of adventurous travelers, including a group of gifted Black crop scientists in the 1930s, a housewife searching for purpose in the 1950s, a Peace Corps volunteer discovering his identity in the 1970s, and her own grandfather who, after losing his eye fighting in World War II and returning to a country that showed no signs of honoring his sacrifice, set out with his wife and children on a circuitous journey that sent them back and forth across the Atlantic.
By sharing the histories of those who escaped the racism of the United States to try their hands at life abroad, Beyond the Shores shines a light on the meaning of home and the search for a better life.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 20, 2023
14 people are currently reading
2427 people want to read
About the author
Tamara J. Walker
3 books28 followersTamara J. Walker is a historian and associate professor of Africana Studies at Barnard College of Columbia University, where her research and a teaching focus on the history of slavery and freedom in Latin America. Her first book, Exquisite Slaves: Race, Clothing and Status in Colonial Lima, won the Harriet Tubman Prize awarded by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
In addition to her scholarship, Tamara is the co-founder of The Wandering Scholar, a 501c3 nonprofit focused on making international travel accessible to high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. This work has, in turn, shaped her writing and creative projects: she has written about race, culture, and travel for Columbia Global Reports, The Guardian, Slate, and The Root, and is the author of the new book, Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad (out on June 20).
In addition to her scholarship, Tamara is the co-founder of The Wandering Scholar, a 501c3 nonprofit focused on making international travel accessible to high school students from underrepresented backgrounds. This work has, in turn, shaped her writing and creative projects: she has written about race, culture, and travel for Columbia Global Reports, The Guardian, Slate, and The Root, and is the author of the new book, Beyond the Shores: A History of African Americans Abroad (out on June 20).
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 26, 2023
What.a.book! well written and researched. Loved it! Learned so much.
July 22, 2023
3.5 rounded up
This one had some interesting things to say about black people abroad, which should be no surprise. It also gets at the two directional influence between the foreign country and the US through the various individual.
The book read more like a group of short stories, with all the positives and negatives of that genre. By somewhere around 70% I found myself checking and checking how much of the book was actually left and celebrating all the things that go at the end of the book to make it shorter. That is not a good sign. Maybe had I spread it out or skipped the portions that weren't working for me it would have been better? Still a good and useful book showing an important but often overlooked heritage and the intricacies of American racism vs the racism of other countries.
This one had some interesting things to say about black people abroad, which should be no surprise. It also gets at the two directional influence between the foreign country and the US through the various individual.
The book read more like a group of short stories, with all the positives and negatives of that genre. By somewhere around 70% I found myself checking and checking how much of the book was actually left and celebrating all the things that go at the end of the book to make it shorter. That is not a good sign. Maybe had I spread it out or skipped the portions that weren't working for me it would have been better? Still a good and useful book showing an important but often overlooked heritage and the intricacies of American racism vs the racism of other countries.
August 1, 2024
This book has become my personality. As someone who travels extensively and owns a travel company I really appreciated the historical aspects intertwined with personal stories of people I'd heard of and lesser known names. Tamara Walker did an excellent job of capturing the breadth and complexity of the Black American experience abroad in both the opportunities it provided and the challenges that followed Black travelers from the United States. This book is especially timely as more people I know consider moving abroad depending on the outcomes of the 2024 elections and places their expat considerations in a historical context that went further back than I considered. I highly recommend this book.
September 17, 2023
Beyond the Shores tells the stories of African Americans who left their home country to live and work abroad. Each chapters is focused on a specific individual or group during a decade of the twentieth century, and is framed around significant events going on in the US and the world at that time. In briefer interludes between those chapters, Walker includes some of her own family history, which also included international travel and opportunities to explore the world beyond the US.
The narratives all speak to the different treatment these African Americans experienced abroad, in contrast to the persistent racism they experienced at home. Walker also notes the privilege that often accompanied their American-ness, and was evident in the more accepting treatment African Americans were shown by their new neighbors abroad as compared to the hostility often experienced by non-American Blacks.
Just as their expat experiences were often eye-opening to these sojourners in different lands, so their stories opened my eyes to the discrimination that has existed both in this country and elsewhere toward those perceived as "other" and, especially, to how little it has changed over time.
The narratives all speak to the different treatment these African Americans experienced abroad, in contrast to the persistent racism they experienced at home. Walker also notes the privilege that often accompanied their American-ness, and was evident in the more accepting treatment African Americans were shown by their new neighbors abroad as compared to the hostility often experienced by non-American Blacks.
Just as their expat experiences were often eye-opening to these sojourners in different lands, so their stories opened my eyes to the discrimination that has existed both in this country and elsewhere toward those perceived as "other" and, especially, to how little it has changed over time.
July 24, 2023
Dr. Walker brilliantly walks the reader through the history of African American travel that has been overlooked until now. Her compelling prose pushes us to think about the deeply personal and political reasons that took prominent African American entertainers, writers, and scholars to places in Africa, Europe, and Asia throughout the 20th century. As a political scientist, it struck me that these journeys were intertwined with international political processes and domestic political systems that were deeply at odds. The US pushed to democratize the world while excluding entire communities from the system in their own nation. I highly recommend!
July 17, 2023
Beautifully written and deeply informative. I learned a great deal from this book and felt a connection to every person's story. Spanning decades and continents I was given unique perspectives on what it is to be black, American, and overseas. Richard Wright and Kim Bass especially taught me so much. This book is well-researched, gentle yet powerful in it's writing, and made me a better person.
August 13, 2023
Another book that tells me my schooling from early on through college was incomplete. These are some of the names that sold be taught at least during Black History Month. They were incredibly challenged and accomplished and worthy of veneration. Will be rereading this one throughout my life and will be gifting them to all my kiddos.
May 30, 2024
Very insightful book on the experiences of African Americans abroad throughout the 20th century. It touches upon racism and racialized societies, yet, it also demonstrates great achievements and rich personal journeys by African Americans despite the barriers they faced. Deep research went into this book.
August 20, 2024
The vignettes of Walker's life are a great way to set up each of the stories. I liked the breadth of her subjects- an actor, a farmer, a musician, and her own work as an academic.
The book also fingers a troubling trend that appears again and again throughout Black history—white Americans toting their Jim Crow attitudes wherever they land.
Overall an informative and interesting read.
The book also fingers a troubling trend that appears again and again throughout Black history—white Americans toting their Jim Crow attitudes wherever they land.
Overall an informative and interesting read.
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October 11, 2023This was so interesting! I loved the author's connections to her own family's history.
March 7, 2024
Wide-ranging exploration of Black Americans who have left the USA for other countries and more equality
March 29, 2024
This was a very good book, well written, but with an odd premise. For African Americans to be all that they can be, they have to leave the country.
January 8, 2026
3.75/5
June 30, 2023
Love love love! Couldn’t put the book down. The vignettes between chapters personalized the stories in an incredible way. Beautiful writing, which made me feel connected to each person and place. The book was a journey itself! A must read!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews