Down the Glory Road: Contributions of African Americans in United States History and Culture

by Herb Boyd

From the courageous slave uprising that predated Jamestown to the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Senate, this book is a celebration of the black experience in America. Here are remarkable accounts of momentous achievements & historic happenings which have too often been neglected in traditional history books. Vivid & inspiring, this is a rich, panoramic tapestry of the men & women of color who helped weave the fabric of our nation -- with stories of oppression, struggle, & magnificent accomplishment that every American should know.

340 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Herb Boyd is an awarding-winning American author and journalist who has published 17 books and countless articles for national magazines and newspapers. Brotherman:The Odyssey of Black Men in America: An Anthology (One World/Ballantine, 1995), co-edited with Robert Allen of the Black Scholar journal, won the American Book Award for nonfiction. In 1999, Boyd won three first place awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for his articles published in the Amsterdam News.

In 2006, Boyd worked with world music composer Yusef Lateef on his autobiography The Gentle Giant, which was published by Morton Books of New Jersey. In 2008, he published Baldwin's Harlem: A Biography of James Baldwin, and is working with filmmaker Keith Beauchamp on several projects. Boyd has been inducted into both the Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent and the Madison Square Garden Hall of Fame as a journalist.

Along with his writing, Boyd is also the Managing Editor of The Black World Today, one of the leading online publications on the Internet. Boyd, a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit, teaches African and African-American History at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, and is an adjunct instructor at City College in the Black Studies Department.

Reviews

[Courtney Shareef · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up

This will be required reading for my child(ren) once they're older. A great, engaging overview of Black History.

There are, understandably, gaps. I was surprised Clifton Wharton, the first black CEO of a Fortune 500 company and eventual US Secretary of State, wasn't mentioned. In fact, very little black business history was covered. I also thought the college student-led push for African American studies departments and courses across both HBCU and PWI-institutions might be mentioned but weren't.

That said, the amount of history that WAS covered was overwhelming and inspiring. This is a great starting point, and all of the names Boyd drops offer a multitude of avenues for further exploration.