Imperium In Imperio: A Study Of The Negro Race - Softcover

Griggs, Sutton E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1617430269 ISBN 13: 9781617430268

Publisher: Greenbook Publications, LLC, 2010

Synopsis

Sutton Elbert Griggs (June 19, 1872 - January 2, 1933) is best known for his novel Imperium in Imperio, a utopian work that imagines that within the United States there is a separate African American state. This work centers on the disclosure of an African American "empire within an empire," a shadow government complete with a Congress based in Waco, Texas. The two main characters are childhood friends separated by wealth, education, skin tone, and political outlook; one is a militant and one an integrationist. The light-skinned and more militant Bernard Belgrave has been hand-picked to serve as president and advocates a takeover of the Texas state government, while the dark-skinned, college-educated Belton Piedmont argues for assimilation and cooperation. Bernard has Belton executed as a traitor, leaving the potentially violent and unstable Bernard in control of the Imperium as the novel ends.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Self-published in 1899 and sold door-to-door by the author, this classic African-American novel--a gripping exploration of oppression, miscegenation, exploitation, and black empowerment--was a major bestseller in its day. The dramatic story of a conciliatory black man and a mulatto nationalist who grow up in a racist America and are driven to join a radical movement dedicated to the creation of an all-black nation in Texas, "Imperium in Imperio had a profound influence on the development of black nationalism.

About the Author:

Author of the Preface:
A. J. Verdelle, lecturer in the creative writing program at Princeton, is the author of The Good Negress.

Introducer:
Cornel West, University Professor of Religion at Princeton, is the author of Race Matters and The American Evasion of Philosophy, and is the co-author of The Future of American Progressivism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Greenbook Publications, LLC
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1617430269
• ISBN 13: 9781617430268
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 126