To Make Our World Anew
A History of African Americans
Published on 4. January 2001
Book
Hardback
688 pages
978-0-19-513945-7 (ISBN)
Description
"To Make Our World Anew" reconstructs U.S. history through the experiences and struggles of black Americans.Written by a stellar team of historians, this volume offers a panoramic view of black life, rich with first-person accounts that invite readers to view the past through the eyes of African Americans.
Beginning with the African background and the colonisation of the AMericas, "To Make Our World Anew" examines the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full-blown system of racial domination; the critical role African Americans played in shaping and ultimately destroying American racial slavery; their unflagging efforts to define freedom, not only for themselves but for the entire nation; and the ways in which industrial and post-industrial transformations shaped black life, thought, culture, and resistence in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Yet this is not a story of victims, but a dramatic saga of a people who dared to fight back: a people who quite literally reamade America several times over. In spite of their condition, African Americans were still human beings endowed with intellect, creativity, and vision. They came to North American shores from various ethnic groups and speaking many languages, but they forged a strong sense of community and created new identities from their ethnic past and racial present. The authors pay special attention to difference and diversity. By exploring the hidden social and cultural history of women and ordinary working people (free and slave), they paint a fully textured portrait of black communities that cosiders divisions by gender, class, colour, and sexuality. And the authors extend their vision beyond the united States, examining the impact of key events such as the Haitian Revolution and the Spanish-American War. By acknowledging African Americans as part of a larger African diaspora, the book links the struggles of blacks in the United States to those of displaced Africans throughout the world.
With new insightand impeccable scholarship, "To Make Our World Anew" dramatically demonstrates how generations of Africa's descendeants, in their ongoing quest for freedom, have transformed our world and made it a better place - for everyone.
Beginning with the African background and the colonisation of the AMericas, "To Make Our World Anew" examines the transformation of slavery from a brutal form of indentured servitude to a full-blown system of racial domination; the critical role African Americans played in shaping and ultimately destroying American racial slavery; their unflagging efforts to define freedom, not only for themselves but for the entire nation; and the ways in which industrial and post-industrial transformations shaped black life, thought, culture, and resistence in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Yet this is not a story of victims, but a dramatic saga of a people who dared to fight back: a people who quite literally reamade America several times over. In spite of their condition, African Americans were still human beings endowed with intellect, creativity, and vision. They came to North American shores from various ethnic groups and speaking many languages, but they forged a strong sense of community and created new identities from their ethnic past and racial present. The authors pay special attention to difference and diversity. By exploring the hidden social and cultural history of women and ordinary working people (free and slave), they paint a fully textured portrait of black communities that cosiders divisions by gender, class, colour, and sexuality. And the authors extend their vision beyond the united States, examining the impact of key events such as the Haitian Revolution and the Spanish-American War. By acknowledging African Americans as part of a larger African diaspora, the book links the struggles of blacks in the United States to those of displaced Africans throughout the world.
With new insightand impeccable scholarship, "To Make Our World Anew" dramatically demonstrates how generations of Africa's descendeants, in their ongoing quest for freedom, have transformed our world and made it a better place - for everyone.
Reviews / Votes
"To Make Our World Anew is an absolute must for every library--school, college, community, and your own personal bookshelves at home. Comprehensive and scholarly, it is also one of the most fascinating, readable, and stirring history books I've encountered."--Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund "The scholarship sparkles throughout, offering not just the 'what', but also the 'why' of the social, cultural, and political events shaping the present. Editots Kelley and Lewis have synthesized the vast knowledge of contemporary African-American studies into a single, fluid volume that provides an intelligent introduction to the history's intricacies, divisions and sccomplishments."--Publishers Weekly "A group of leading historians crafts a brilliant monument to indivdual and collective Black achievement that is 'nothing less than dramatic saga.' Sweeping in scope, this invaluable survey charts the transformation of Blacks from Africans into African-Americans."--Emerge "The historian co-authors really capture not only the history in a relatively concise form, but also the passion behind our stories through writings that have a glorious spark of fire and aliveness to them....This is no 'cry me a river' book. It chronicles clearly and convincingly our personal highs and lows and the real history of our involvement with this country in unique readable and compelling ways. Regardless of your race or ethnicity, if you want to understand american history over the last 500 years, this book is essential reading."--The Black Book Review "Since nearly any history of African Americans is bound to be compared to John Hope Franklin's From Slavery to Freedom, perhaps it's best to state straightaway that To Make Our World Anew does indeed measure up to, and on some levels surpass, Franklin's epochal work. Every aspect of the African American experience is explored: slavery, slave rebellions, emancipation, segregation, lynchings, civil rights, and the post civil rights era."--Amazon reviewer "Uniquley, the book 'places the struggles and achievements of black people in a larger international framework.' Thoughtfully written and offering insightful observations, this book offers carefully reasoned analyses of black feminism, urban poverty, and the struggle for political power.... A striking reflection of the breadth and vitality of contemporary African American historical scholarship. Worth reading by anyone interested in the African American experience...."--Library Journal "Well-chosen facts illustrate the relevent periods and the constantly evolving nature of the black struggle...A comprehensive and vividly narrated history, enriched by well-chosen illustrations, that is as much an epic-in-progress as a scholarly record."--Kirkus Reviews Review from previous edition "An absolute must for every library - school college, community, and your own personal bookshelves at home. Comprehensive and scholarly, it is also one of the most fascinating, readable, and stirring history books I've encountered." * Marian Wright Edelman, President, The Children's Defense Fund. *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
8 pp colour plates, numerous halftones
Dimensions
Height: 170 mm
Width: 242 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
1179 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-513945-7 (9780195139457)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Robin D.G. Kelley is Professor of History and Africana Studies at New York University. He is the author of "Hammer and Hoe: Alabama Communists During the Great Depression", which received the Eliot Rudwick Prize of the Organization of American Historians, and "Yo Mama's DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America". He lives in New York City
Earl Lewis is vice provost and dean of the graduate school and professor of history and Afroamerican studies at the University of Michigan. He served as director of the university's Centre for Afroamerican and African Studies from 1990 to 1993 and has been dean since 1998. Professor Lewis is the author of "In their own interests: Race, Class, and Power in 20th Century Norfolk" and co-author of "Blacks in the Industrial Age: A Documentary History". He lives in Ann Arbor
Earl Lewis is vice provost and dean of the graduate school and professor of history and Afroamerican studies at the University of Michigan. He served as director of the university's Centre for Afroamerican and African Studies from 1990 to 1993 and has been dean since 1998. Professor Lewis is the author of "In their own interests: Race, Class, and Power in 20th Century Norfolk" and co-author of "Blacks in the Industrial Age: A Documentary History". He lives in Ann Arbor
Content
PREFACE ; 1. The First Passage: 1502-1617 ; 2. Strange New Land:1617-1776 ; 3. Revolutionary Citizens:1776-1804 ; 4. Let My People Go:1804-1860 ; 5. Breaking The Chains:1860-1880 ; 6. Though Justice Sleeps:1880-1900 ; 7. A Chance To Make Good: 1900-1929 ; 8. A New Deal?: 1929-1945 ; 9. We Changed The World:1945-1970 ; 10. Into The Fire:1970 to Present ; CHRONOLOGY ; FURTHER READING ; INDEX