Everybody Say Freedom: Everything You Need to Know About African-American History - Softcover

Richard Newman; Marcia Sawyer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0452275938 ISBN 13: 9780452275935

Publisher: Plume, 1996

Synopsis

Utilizing a lively question-and-answer format, a historical reference provides an eye-opening overview of African-American history--from the Middle Passage to the present day--and the contributions of African Americans to the United States. Original.

About this title

About the Author

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was Professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Africana Studies at Cornell University, and also tenured at Yale, Duke, and Harvard, where he was appointed W.E.B. DuBois professor of humanities in 1991. Professor Gates is the author of Figures in Black: Words, Signs, and the Racial Self, Wonders of the African World, The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of African-American Literary Criticism, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man, Loose Cannons: Notes on the Culture Wars, and Colored People: A Memoir. With Cornel West, he co-wrote The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Country and The Future of the Race. He is also the editor of the critically-acclaimed edition of Our Nig, an annotated reprint of Harriet E. Wilson’s 1859 novel, The Slave’s Narrative (with the late Charles T. Davis), Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience, Six Women’s Slave Narratives, and In the House of Oshugbo: Critical Essays on Wole Soyinka. He is a recipient of the MacArthur Prize.

Reviews

Each of these volumes uses a question-and-answer format to provide a ready-reference primer on African American history. Focusing on questions of elemental fact and of roles and interpretive perspectives, each defines basic terms, sketches dominant trends, and identifies prominent persons, particularly firsts in their field. Both books offer easily accessed, chronologically organized surveys aimed at drawing readers into the epic of the African American past, and both succeed admirably. In his ten-chapter work, Jackson (Stanford, history) provides longer, essay-like answers averaging about 900-1000 words but running as long as 1500, with multiple references after each entry. In their five chapters, Newman (program officer, Harvard, W.E.B. Du Bois Inst.) and Sawyer (history and culture, California State Univ., San Marcos) tend toward shorter answers averaging 300-500 words, with one or two recommended readings. Each book fills the gap between encyclopedia and textbook, and both are recommended for school and public library collections on U.S. and African American history.?Thomas Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Much information on the contributions of African Americans to this country has been falsified or ignored or both, causing blacks and whites to be uninformed of the past. Newman and Sawyer have done an excellent job providing historical information by and about African Americans. The book covers the periods 1619^-1776, 1776^-1877, 1878^-1919, 1920^-54, and 1954^-95. The chapters begin with a list of questions specific to the time period they cover. Although many of the questions and answers are common, the brevity, detail, and accuracy of the information make this resource invaluable. The chapters conclude with quotes of the individuals highlighted and a reading list on the subject. The encyclopedic format ensures that everyone can find the answers to questions on African Americans that have been absent from standard history books. Excellent reference resource for all reading levels. Lillian Lewis

Edition details

• Publisher: Plume
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0452275938
• ISBN 13: 9780452275935
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 318