Letters from Black America

Front Cover
Pamela Newkirk
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Feb 3, 2009 - History - 400 pages

Letters from Black America fills a literary and historical void by presenting the pantheon of African American experience in the most intimate way possible—through the heartfelt correspondence of the men and women who lived through monumental changes and pivotal events, from the 1700s to the twenty-first century, from slavery to the war in Iraq.

The first-ever narrative history of African Americans told through their own letters, this book includes the thoughts of politicians, writers, and entertainers, as well as those of slaves, servicemen, and domestic workers. From a slave who writes to his wife on the eve of being sold to famous documents like Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail," these writings illuminate struggles and triumphs, hardships and glory, in the unforgettable words of the participants themselves. Letters from Black America is an indispensable addition to our country's literary tradition, historical understanding, and self-knowledge.

 

Contents

Courtship and Romance
59
Politics and Social Justice
87
Education and the Art of Scholarship
173
War
225
Art and Culture
265
Across the Diaspora
319
Acknowledgments
351
Index
353
Copyright

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About the author (2009)

Pamela Newkirk is the editor of A Love No Less and the author of Within the Veil, which won the National Press Club Award for Media Criticism. She is an award-winning journalist and an associate professor of journalism at New York University.

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