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This rich cultural history of African Americans outlines their travails, triumphs, and achievements in negotiating individual and collective identities to overcome racism, slavery, and the legacies of these injustices from colonial times to the present.One of every five Americans at the nation's beginning was an African American-a fact that underscores their importance in U.S. growth and development. This fascinating study moves from Africans' early contacts with the Americas to African Americans' 21st-century presence, exploring their role in building the American nation and in constructing their own identities, communities, and cultures.
Historian and lawyer Thomas J. Davis's multi-themed narrative of compelling content provides a historical overview of the rise of African Americans from slavery and segregation in their anti-racist quest to enjoy equal rights and opportunities to reach the American Dream of pursuing happiness. The work features portraits of individuals and treats images of African Americans in their roles as performers, producers, consumers, and creators, and as the face of social problems such as crime, education, and poverty.
List of contents
PrefaceIntroductionChronology of Key Dates in African American History1. Voyage to These Shores
2. Coming to America
3. A People in the Making
4. Strike a Blow and Steal Away
5. Keep on Keeping on
6. Under the Lash
7. Lift That Bale
8. The Way They Do My Life
9. There's a Change Coming
10. Actual Freedom
11. A Dream Deferred
12. A New Negro
13. A Great Depression
14. Conquer Hate
15. Keep on Pushing
16. The Revolution
Was Televised
17. Fight the Power
18. Challenges, Dreams, and Hopes
Selected BibliographyIndex
About the author
Thomas J. Davis, PhD, JD, is professor of history at Arizona State University, Tempe. An historian and lawyer, he is the author of several books.
